PXuWHti^'^^^ 


I 


STORIES  OF 
OLD   NEW   HAVEN 

(ILLUSTRATED) 


BY 

ERNEST  H.  BALDWIN,  Ph.  D. 

Instructor    in    History,    Hillhouse    High    School,   New 
Haven,  Conn.,  and  Lecturer  in  History,  Yale  University. 


THE 

Press 


PUBLISHERS 

114 

FIFTH    AVENUE 
Ltondon  NEW  YORK  ^lontweal 


Copyright,  1902, 
By  Ernest  Hickok  Baldwin. 


DEDICATED  TO 

H.  I.  B., 

WHOSE  PURITAN  ANCESTOR  LANDED  AT 
QUINNIPIAC  IN  1638,  AND  WHOSE 
PATERNAL  GRANDFATHER  MADE  VAL- 
UABLE CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  THE  HIS- 
TORICAL LITERATURE  OF  THE  NEW 
HAVEN  COLONY. 


2012163 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

PREFACE 7 

INTRODUCTION. — Why  the  Puritans  Left 

England ,         1 1 

CHAPTER  I. 
How  Some  Puritans   Left  England  and 

Went  to  Quinnipiac 17 

CHAPTER  II. 

How  the  Founders  of  New  Haven  Built  a 

City  Four-Square 30 

CHAPTER  III. 
How  Momaugin  Sold  Quinnipiac 44 

CHAPTER  IV. 
How   the    Laws   of   Moses    Became   the 

Laws  of  New  Haven 55 

CHAPTER  V. 

How  a  Great  Ship  Went  Out  Through  the 
Ice  and  Came  Back  in  a  Summer 
Cloud 71 


CHAPTER  VI. 
How  New  Haven  Hid  the  Judges  Who 

Condemned  a  King  to  Death 84 

CHAPTER  VII. 
How  New  Haven  Came  to  Be  in  the  State 

of  Connecticut 101 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
How  New  Haven  Became  the  Home  of 

Yale  College 118 

CHAPTER  IX. 

How  the  Market-place  Became  the  Green 
and  the  Many  Changes  It  Has 
Seen 133 

CHAPTER  X. 
How  New  Haven  Celebrated  the  Fourth 

of  July  in  the  Year  1779 149 

CHAPTER  XI. 

How  New  Haven  Defended  the  Mendi 

Men 164 

CHAPTER  XII. 
How  the  People  of  New  Haven  Lived  in 

Colonial  Days 181 

APPENDIX 195 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

John  Davenport  .  .         .         .         .18 

The  Landing  at  Quinnipiac  in  1638  .  32 
Momaugin — His  Mark  .  .  .  .52 
Mantowese — His  Mark  .  .  .  .52 
Stocks  .......  62 

The  Phantom  Ship 82 

Judges'  Cave 96 

An  Old  Charter  .  .  .  .  .102 
The  Old  Brick  Row  .  .  .  .132 
The  Market  Place  in  1639  .  .  .  136 

Hillhouse  Avenue 142 

The  Green  in  1902 148 

An  Old  Wellsweep 184 

The  Half-mile  Square       .         .         .         .196 


PREFACE. 

The  following  stories  do  not  pretend  to 
give  a  detailed  history  of  New  Haven  from 
the  date  of  its  founding  to  the  present  time. 
They  contain,  in  simple  language,  accounts 
of  only  those  events  and  incidents  connected 
with  its  history  which  are  of  chief  importance 
and  general  interest.  They  are  designed, 
primarily,  to  interest  and  instruct  those  boys 
and  girls  whose  homes  are  situated  in  or  near 
that  old  New  England  city  or  whose  ances- 
tors came  from  there.  New  Haven  is  a  city 
of  fine  historic  traditions,  is  more  than  two 
hundred  and  sixty  years  old  and  widely 
famed.  A  knowledge  of  its  history  and  of 
the  high-minded  men  who  made  it  what  it 


8  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

is,  cannot  fail  to  prompt  feelings  of  gratitude 
and  pride,  and  inspire  the  younger  genera- 
tion with  an  ambition  to  protect  its  fair  name 
and  preserve  its  noble  institutions. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  stories  botii 
primary  and  secondary  sources  have  been 
used.  Among  these  should  be  mentioned: 
The  New  Haven  Colony  Records,  the  pub- 
lications of  the  New  Haven  Colony  Histori- 
cal Society,  Atwater's  History  of  The  Colony. 
of  New  Haven,  Levermore's  Republic  of 
New  Haven,  Bacon's  Historical  Discourses, 
Blake's  Chronicles  of  the  New  Haven  Green, 
Bartlett's  Historical  Sketches,  and  Kingsley's 
Historical  Discourse. 

The  author  desires  to  acknowledge  his  in- 
debtedness to  those  who  have  given  aid  and 
encouragement  in  the  preparation  of  these 
stories.  In  this  connection  special  mention 
should  be  made  of  Dr.  Stuart  H.  Rowe,  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Lovell  School  District,  New  Ha- 


PREFACE.  9 

ven,  for  his  valuable  suggestions  regarding 
their  form  and  substance;  and  Mr.  A.  H. 
Baldwin,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  for  the  cover 
design  and  other  original  drawings  illustrat- 
ing the  book. 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  September  29,  1902. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Why  the  Puritans  Left  England. 

In  the  days  when  our  forefathers  left  their 
homes  across  the  sea  and  came  to  New  Eng- 
land, old  England  was  not  a  very  happy  coun- 
try to  live  in;  at  least  a  good  many  of  the 
English  people  did  not  think  it  was.  The 
Stuart  kings  ruled  England  then  and  they 
were  very  unwise  and  unjust.  They  believed 
that  God  had  made  them  kings ;  and  so,  they 
thought  it  was  right  for  them  to  do  what- 
ever they  pleased,  and  that  the  people  ought 
to  obey  them  willingly. 

Now  in  those  days  all  the  churches  of 
England  were  supported  by  taxes  laid  on  the 
people,  just  as  public  schools  are  supported 


12  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

in  our  country  now-a-days.  Besides  that 
everybody  had  to  go  to  church  and  worship 
God  in  the  way  the  King  and  his  Bishops 
ordered.  But  there  were  some  people  who 
did  not  like  the  way  the  church  services  were 
conducted.  They  even  believed  that  some  of 
the  forms  and  ceremonies  used  in  the  wor- 
ship were  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Bible  and  therefore  wrong.  These  people 
tried  to  reform  or  purify  the  church,  and  so 
were  called  Puritans. 

When  James  I,  who  was  the  first  Stuart 
king,  became  ruler  of  England  in  the  year 
1604,  these  Puritans  asked  him  to  make  some 
changes  in  the  church  worship  and  do  away 
with  the  forms  and  ceremonies  they  disliked. 
But  the  king  thought  he  knew  what  was  best 
and  obstinately  refused  to  do  what  they  wish- 
ed. More  than  that,  he  threatened  to  "  har- 
ry them  out  of  the  land  "  if  they  didn't  wor- 
ship in  the  way  required  by  law. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

Some  of  these  people  thought  it  wrong  to 
obey  the  king's  command  and  left  the  Eng- 
lish Church  to  worship  by  themselves  in  the 
way  they  thought  was  right.  So  they  be- 
came known  as  Separatists,  because  they 
separated  from  the  English  Church.  But 
King  James  was  true  to  his  word  and  did 
harry  them  out  of  the  land.  They  went  to 
Holland  first,  but  later,  came  as  Pilgrims  to 
the  new  world  and  settled  Plymouth  in  the 
year  1620. 

Those  called  Puritans  remained  in  the 
English  Church  patiently  hoping  that  the  re- 
forms they  wished  would  be  made  sometime. 
But  they  were  cruelly  treated  by  the  king. 
A  court  called  the  Court  of  High  Commis- 
sion fined  and  imprisoned  them  if  they  said 
anything  against  the  regular  forms  of  wor- 
ship or  met  by  themselves  to  worship  in  a 
different  way.  Ministers  who  were  known 
to  be,  or  suspected  of  being,  Puritans,  were 


14  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

arrested  and  kept  in  horrible  prisons  until 
they  promised  to  give  up  their  Puritan  ideas. 
If  they  refused,  their  churches  were  taken 
away  from  them  and  they  were  made  to  suf- 
fer great  hardships. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  reason  so  many 
of  the  English  people  were  unhappy.  They 
suffered  in  another  way.  When  King  James 
wanted  more  money  than  Parliament  gave 
him  (and  he  always  did)  he  taxed  the  people 
without  their  consent.  Now  this  was  a  viola- 
tion of  that  famous  document  called  "  Magna 
Charta"  in  which  an  earlier  English  king  had 
agreed  to  lay  no  taxes  upon  the  people  with- 
out the  consent  of  Parliament.  But  King 
James  did  not  care  about  that.  If  anyone 
refused  to  pay  these  unjust  taxes  or  loan  the 
King  money  (which  he  never  intended  to 
pay  back),  he  was  taken  before  a  court  called 
the  "  Star  Chamber  "  and  fined  heavily  or 
put  in  prison.  The  judges  of  this  court  were 


INTRODUCTION.  1$ 

very  careful  to  do  just  what  the  King  wished 
whether  it  was  right  or  not. 

When  King  James  I  died  in  1625  and  his 
son  Charles  became  king,  the  Puritans  hoped 
for  better  times.  They  were  greatly  disap- 
pointed for  the  new  King  was  more  obstinate 
and  tyrannical  than  his  father,  and  they  were 
worse  off  than  before.  It  was  dangerous  to 
speak  or  write  against  the  church  ceremonies 
or  complain  of  the  acts  of  the  King.  Those 
who  dared  to  do  so  had  their  ears  cut  off 
or  their  tongues  cut  out. 

Rather  than  suffer  such  cruelties  many 
Puritans  left  England  and  sought  homes  in 
a  new  land  where  they  could  worship  God 
in  their  own  way.  Dear  as  their  native  land 
was  to  them,  their  religion  was  more  dear  and 
they  chose  to  suffer  exile  in  the  new  world 
than  do  what  they  believed  was  wrong.  In 
1628  some  wealthy  Puritans  under  the  leader- 
ship of  John  Winthrop,  John  Cotton  and 


l6  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Thomas  Hooker,  formed  what  was  called  the 
"  Company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay."  The 
King  gave  them  a  charter  for  he  was  very 
willing  to  get  rid  of  troublesome  subjects  and 
have  his  new  lands  across  the  Atlantic  set- 
tled. Then  they  came  to  New  England  and 
founded  the  town  of  Boston  in  1630.  Among 
those  who  helped  to  form  this  company  and 
spent  time  and  money  to  make  it  a  success, 
were  two  men  whose  names  became  famous 
later  as  the  founders  of  the  colony  of  New 
Haven.  Those  men  were  John  Davenport 
and  Theophilus  Eaton. 


STORIES 
OF  OLD  NEW  HAVEN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

How  Some  Puritans  Left  England  and 
Went  to  Quinnipiac. 

Nearly  three  hundred  years  ago  there  lived 
in  the  city  of  Coventry,  near  the  center  of 
England,  two  boys  named  John  Davenport 
and  Theophilus  Eaton.  The  father  of  young 
Davenport  was  mayor  of  the  city  and  Mr. 
Eaton  was  the  minister  there.  The  boys 
were  schoolmates  and  great  friends.  This 
friendship  lasted  to  the  end  of  their  lives  and 
had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  founding  of 
the  city  of  New  Haven. 

Mayor  Davenport's  son  was  a  bright  young 
boy  and  a  good  scholar.  When  he  was  six- 


l8  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

teen  years  old  he  was  sent  to  Oxford  Col- 
lege, and,  later,  became  a  minister  of  the 
English  Church.  Mr.  Eaton  wanted  his  boy 
to  become  a  minister,  too,  but  Theophilus 
thought  he  would  rather  be  a  merchant.  So 
he  went  to  London  and,  in  a  few  years,  be- 
came very  rich.  Thus  the  two  boys  became 
separated ;  but  they  did  not  forget  each  other 
and  before  many  years  they  were  together 
again. 

In  the  year  1624,  just  before  King  James 
I  died,  John  Davenport  became  the  minister 
of  St.  Stephen's  church  in  Coleman  street, 
London.  He  was  then  twenty-seven  years 
old.  People  liked  to  hear  him  preach,  and 
his  church  was  always  filled.  Among  the 
rich  merchants  who  went  to  church  there 
was  Mr.  Davenport's  old  friend,  Theophilus 
Eaton.  He  belonged  to  a  wealthy  trading 
company  and  had  travelled  through  the  Baltic 
Sea.  At  one  time  he  was  the  Ambassador  of 
King  James  at  the  Court  of  Denmark.  It 
may  be  that  he  had  something  to  do  with 


JOHN    DAYKNI'OKT. 
From  a,  picture  in  possession  of  Yale  University. 


SETTLEMENT    AT    QUINNIPIAC.  19 

making  his  old  schoolmate  minister  of  St. 
Stephen's  church. 

It  was  not  long  before  both  Mr.  Davenport 
and  Mr.  Eaton  became  strong  Puritans. 
In  1628  they  helped  to  form  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Company  although  they  were  not 
then  ready  to  leave  England  themselves;  for 
they  had  not  yet  suffered  from  the  injustice 
of  the  King.  Still  they  were  very  willing  to 
help  others  who  wanted  to  go  to  New  Eng- 
land. A  few  years  later  they  were  very  glad 
to  go  themselves,  and  this  is  the  way  it  came 
about. 

In  the  year  1633  King  Charles  I  made  Wil- 
liarft  Laud  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Now 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  the  high- 
est officer  in  the  English  Church.  It  was  his 
business  to  see  that  the  laws  of  the  Church 
were  obeyed.  This  William  Laud  hated  the 
Puritans  and  everybody  knew  that  he  would 
treat  them  very  harshly.  So  far  Mr.  Daven- 
port had  escaped  punishment,  for  not  many 
knew  that  he  was  a  Puritan.  But  William 
Laud  found  it  out  before  he  was  made  Arch- 


2O  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

bishop.  Mr.  Davenport  soon  learned  that  it 
would  not  be  safe  for  him  to  stay  in  England. 
So  before  he  could  be  arrested  he  fled  to 
Holland.  He  went  to  Amsterdam  where  he 
preached  for  several  years.  But  he  did  not 
like  it  there  and  wanted  to  be  with  his  own 
people  and  friends.  Just  about  that  time 
Reverend  John  Cotton  wrote  him  a  letter 
from  Boston  urging  him  to  come  there.  So 
in  1636,  disguising  himself  as  a  country  gen- 
tleman, he  went  back  to  England  to  see  if  he 
could  get  some  of  his  friends  to  go  with 
him  to  New  England. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  Mr.  Eaton  want- 
ed to  go,  too,  for  his  brother,  Samuel  Eaton, 
who  was  a  Puritan  minister,  had  been  arrest- 
ed and  put  in  prison  by  the  Court  of  High 
Commission.  Although  he  was  freed  again 
it  was  not  safe  for  any  of  the  family  to  remain 
in  England  longer. 

Mr.  Eaton  was  a  rich  man;  and  if  the 
King  learned  that  he  was  a  Puritan,  he  would 
find  some  way  to  get  his  money. 

There  were  a  good  many  other  Puritans 


SETTLEMENT    AT    OUINNIPIAC.  21 

who  were  anxious  to  go  to  New  England  at 
that  time,  also,  for  they  were  being  treated 
more  cruelly  than  ever  by  Archbishop  Laud. 
Besides  they  wanted  to  bring  up  their  chil- 
dren in  the  Puritan  faith.  To  do  that  they 
must  live  in  a  land  where  they  could  worship 
God  in  their  own  way. 

Under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Davenport 
and  Mr.  Eaton  a  Company  was  formed  to  go 
to  New  England  and  found  a  new  colony. 
People  from  different  parts  of  England  join- 
ed it.  There  were  a  good  many  from  Lon- 
don and  some  from  Yorkshire  in  the  northern 
part  of  England.  Others  were  from  Here- 
fordshire near  Wales.  Still  others  came 
from  Kent  in  the  South  of  England.  Many 
of  them  were  merchants,  but  some  of  them 
were  country  gentlemen  and  farmers. 

It  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  get  away 
from  England  in  1637,  for  when  the  King 
found  that  wealthy  Puritans  were  taking  a 
great  deal  of  money  from  the  country  he 
tried  to  stop  them;  and  Archbishop  Laud 
.would  not  let  them  get  away  and  escape  pun- 


22  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ishment  if  he  could  help  it.  It  is  certain  that 
Mr.  Davenport  and  Mr.  Eaton  did  not  let 
them  know  they  were  going.  As  it  was  they 
had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  hiring  ships 
to  take  them  across  the  ocean.  But  they 
finally  got  two.  The  name  of  one  was  the 
Hector. 

It  was  quite  an  undertaking  to  move  from 
old  England  to  New  England  in  those  days. 
People  had  to  take  with  them  nearly  every- 
thing they  would  need  in  the  new  settlement. 
There  were  then  no  stores  in  New  England 
where  they  could  buy  everything.  So  they 
had  to  take  tables  and  chairs,  beds  and  pil- 
lows, blankets  and  clothing,  plates  and  knives, 
books  and  candles,  hammers  and  saws,  axes 
and  shovels  and  numerous  other  things. 
They  packed  them  up  in  trunks  and  boxes 
and  bundles  and  stowed  them  away  in  the 
hold  of  their  ship.  Sometimes  they  carried 
bricks  to  build  chimneys.  Very  often  they 
took  cows  and  sheep,  for  they  must  have 
milk  and  wool.  So  it  was  a  busy  time  get- 
ting ready  to  go. 


SETTLEMENT    AT    QUIXNIPIAC.  23 

Then  there  was  a  great  deal  of  business  to 
settle  up  before  they  could  leave.  There 
were  debts  to  collect  and  bills  to  pay. 
Things  they  could  not  carry  with  them  must 
be  sold  or  given  to  friends  and  neighbors. 
At  last  there  were  "  goodbyes  "  to  say,  and 
the  parting  from  friends  and  relatives  they 
never  expected  to  see  again,  for  they  were 
leaving  the  homeland  forever,  to  live  and  die 
and  be  buried  in  a  strange  country. 

The  good  ship  Hector  and  her  companion, 
bearing  those  who  were  destined  to  found 
New  Haven,  set  sail  from  London  sometime 
in  April,  1637.  The  voyage  across  the  At- 
lantic in  those  days  was  a  very  long  and  tire- 
some one.  The  ships  were  small  and  uncom- 
fortable. It  was  often  cold  and  rainy  and 
the  wind  whistled  through  the  rigging  so 
shrilly  it  frightened  the  children.  Of  course 
many  were  seasick.  The  food  was  bad  and 
they  could  have  no  fresh  meat  or  vegetables. 
There  was  no  room  for  the  children  to  run 
about  and  the  sailors  liked  to  play  jokes  on 
them.  The  voyage  usually  lasted  two 


24  STORIES    OF   OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

months,  and  sometimes  it  was  much  longer. 
So  everybody  was  glad  enough  when  land 
was  reached  and  they  could  get  out  and 
stretch  their  legs  and  have  something  fresh 
to  eat  and  drink. 

Mr.  Davenport  and  Mr.  Eaton  with  their 
company  of  Puritan  colonists  reached  Bos- 
ton in  June,  1637.  The  first  thing  they  did 
was  to  thank  God  for  bringing  them  safely 
to  the  end  of  their  voyage.  Then  they  had 
to  unload  their  goods  and  find  a  place  to 
stay.  They  received  a  warm  welcome  from 
the  Boston  people  for  many  of  them  were 
old  friends.  They  probably  brought  letters 
and  messages  from  relatives  and  certainly 
they  told  them  the  latest  news  from  England. 
They,  in  turn,  heard  what  was  going  on  in 
New  England ;  how  Thomas  Hooker  and  his 
friends  were  building  a  new  colony  over  on 
the  Connecticut  river,  and  how  many  of  their 
soldiers  had  gone  off  to  the  war  against  the 
Pequot  Indians. 

When  they  left  England  Mr.  Davenport 
and  Mr.  Eaton  did  not  know  in  what  part  of 


SETTLEMENT    AT    QUINNIPIAC.  2$ 

New  England  they  would  settle.  They  de- 
cided to  go  to  Boston  and  stay  there  until 
they  could  find  just  the  place  they  wanted. 
Their  Boston  friends  urged  them  to  stay 
there,  for  such  rich  men  as  Mr.  Eaton  and  his 
companions  would  make  a  fine  addition  to 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony.  They  were 
even  offered  a  place  for  a  new  town  wherever 
they  might  choose.  But  they  did  not  care  to 
stay  in  Massachusetts  for  several  reasons. 
In  the  first  place  there  was  a  quarrel  in  the 
church  at  Boston  over  a  woman  named  Ann 
Hutchinson,  who  was  preaching  some  new 
and  strange  doctrines.  Everybody  was  ex- 
cited over  her.  Mr.  Davenport  did  a  great 
deal  to  quiet  this  excitement  and  put  an  end 
to  the  quarrel.  But  he  and  Mr.  Eaton  both 
feared  their  people  would  become  mixed  up 
in  similar  religious  disputes  if  they  remained 
in  Massachusetts.  Then  in  the  second  place 
they  wanted  to  found  a  colony  of  their  own 
where  they  could  govern  themselves  in  their 
own  chosen  way.  They  had  heard,  too,  that 
the  King  was  about  to  send  a  Governor  to 


26  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Massachusetts  and  they  did  not  wish  to  be 
ruled  in  that  way.  Finally  they  were  very 
desirous  of  founding  a  commercial  city, 
where  there  was  a  good  harbor.  In  Massa- 
chusetts they  would  be  too  near  Boston. 

While  the  ship  Hector  was  sailing  across 
the  Atlantic  in  that  spring  of  1637,  the  Eng- 
lish settlers  of  New  England  were  having  a 
fierce  war  with  the  Pequot  Indians.  In  the 
month  of  May  the  Puritan  soldiers  burned 
the  Indian  fort  near  New  London  and  killed 
many  hundreds  of  the  redskins.  Those  who 
escaped  fled  westward  along  the  shore  of 
Long  Island  Sound.  The  soldiers  from 
Massachusetts  and  the  other  colonies  pur- 
sued them  and  killed  nearly  all  of  them  in  a 
swamp  near  Fairfield. 

As  the  soldiers  followed  the  Indians  along 
the  shore  they  stopped  several  days  at  a 
place  called  Quinnipiac,  (or  Long-water-land) 
for  they  thought  some  of  the  Pequots  were 
hidden  there.  The  English  liked  the  place 
very  much  and  Captain  Stoughton  wrote  to 
Boston  that  it  was  the  best  place  for  a  set- 


SETTLEMENT    AT    QUINNIPIAC.  27 

tlement  that  he  had  seen  anywhere.  When 
he  went  home  from  the  war  in  August  he 
told  Mr.  Eaton  all  about  it,  describing  the 
fine  harbor  with  the  rivers  emptying  into  it 
and  the  broad  rich  meadows  on  all  sides. 
Mr.  Eaton  was  so  much  interested  in  this  ac- 
count that  he  thought  he  would  go  and  see 
for  himself.  So  he  took  a  number  of  men 
from  his  company  and  sailed  around  to  the 
harbor  at  Quinnipiac. 

Just  what  Mr.  Eaton  did  while  he  was  there 
isn't  known.  But  he  probably  tramped 
through  the  woods  to  see  if  the  trees  were 
good  for  timber  and  masts;  he  looked  over 
the  meadows  and  examined  the  harbor  to  see 
how  deep  the  water  was;  he  found  the  best 
landing  places  and  perhaps  caught  some  fish 
and  clams.  He  probably  looked  for  springs 
of  good  water  and  hunted  up  the  Indians  to 
learn  how  many  there  were  and  if  they  were 
friendly  to  white  men.  Perhaps  he  climbed 
to  the  top  of  East  Rock  to  look  over  the 
surrounding  country,  who  knows?  What- 
ever he  did  it  is  certain  that  he  was  so  well 


28  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

pleased  with  Quinnipiac  that  he  decided  to 
leave  some  of  his  men  there  to  spend  the 
winter  and  make  a  beginning  of  a  new  set- 
tlement. It  was  too  late  in  the  year  to  go 
back  to  Massachusetts  and  get  the  rest  of  the 
company.  It  would  be  better  for  them  to 
spend  the  winter  in  Boston  and  not  move 
until  spring. 

Mr.  Eaton  himself  went  back  to  Boston  and 
reported  what  he  had  done.  It  was  quickly 
decided  that  Quinnipiac  should  be  the  place 
for  their  settlement.  Then  all  looked  eager- 
ly forward  to  the  early  spring-time  when  they 
could  go  there  and  begin  the  building  of 
their  new  homes.  How  slowly  the  time 
seemed  to  go !  Many  a  long  winter  evening 
was  spent  in  planning  their  houses  or  get- 
ting their  tools  in  readiness  for  the  work. 
It  is  not  hard  to  imagine  that  Mr.  Eaton 
'  made  a  rough  map  of  Quinnipiac  and  discuss- 
ed with  the  rest  how  they  should  lay  out 
their  town,  and  where  each  should  have  his 
house  and  lot.  Then  they  could  go  right  to 
work  when  they  reached  there. 


SETTLEMENT   AT   QUINNIPIAC.  29 

If  it  seemed  a  long  winter  at  Boston  it 
must  have  seemed  a  much  longer  one  to  the 
men  left  at  Quinnipiac.  There  were  seven 
of  them  under  the  leadership  of  Joshua  At- 
water.  They  lived  in  a  small  hut  which  they 
built  near  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Con- 
gress avenue  and  Meadow  street.  No  doubt 
they  found  enough  to  do  to  keep  them  busy. 
They  cleared  away  the  underbrush;  they  cut 
down  trees  and  sawed  them  into  boards ;  they 
built  a  few  huts  for  those  who  were  coming 
in  the  spring;  they  set  traps  to  catch  beaver 
and  rabbits ;  they  traded  with  the  Indians 
and  bought  their  furs.  At  times  they  suf- 
fered great  hardship.  It  was  a  very  cold 
winter  and  the  snow  lay  deep.  One  of  their 
number  became  sick  and  died.  His  com- 
panions buried  him  near  the  hut.  So  they 
were  glad  enough  when  spring  came  and  the 
snow  began  to  melt  and  the  ice  went  out  of 
the  rivers,  for  soon  they  would  see  their 
friends  sail  into  the  harbor  to  join  them. 


CHAPTER  II. 

How  the  Founders  of  New  Haven  Built 
a  City  Four-Square. 

About  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons  came 
to  New  England  with  Mr.  Davenport  and 
Mr.  Eaton;  of  these  about  fifty  were  men, 
the  rest  women,  children  and  servants.  By 
the  time  they  were  ready  to  leave  Boston 
and  go  to  Quinnipiac,  quite  a  number  of 
Massachusetts  people  had  joined  them.  So, 
the  small  schooner  which  carried  them  from 
Boston  to  their  new  home  was  pretty  heavily 
loaded.  '  Perhaps  that  was  one  reason  they 
were  so  long  on  the  voyage  for  it  took  them 
two  weeks  to  reach  the  end  of  their  journey. 
The  water  was  probably  rough  and  the  wind 
cold  and  raw,  for  they  sailed  during  the 
early  April  of  a  very  backward  spring. 

As  the  founders  of  the  future  citv  of  New 


A    FOUR-SQUARE    CITY.  3! 

Haven  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Quinnipiac 
that  April  day  in  1638,  how  strange  every- 
thing looked  to  them  and  how  different  from 
that  of  to-day! 

No    lighthouses    guided   the    sailors, 
No   breakwater   sheltered  the   bay; 
No  bridges  of  steel  spanned  the  rivers — • 
Just  wilderness  bordered  the  way* 

Coming  slowly  up  the  harbor  they  looked 
eagerly  and  curiously  about  them.  Toward 
the  East  they  saw  low-lying  hills  covered  with 
small  oak  trees,  and  toward  the  West  great 
forests  of  savins  or  pines,  which,  in  later 
years,  were  to  give  a  name  to  one  of  New 
Haven's  popular  shore  resorts.  Tall  rushes 
lined  the  shore  on  both  sides  of  them.  In 
the  distance  loomed  up  the  Red  Hills,  as  the 
Dutch  called  them,  now  known  as  East  Rock 
and  West  Rock. 

After  they  passed  the  mouth  of  the  West 
River  and  neared  the  head  of  the  harbor, 
they  saw  two  deep  creeks  extending  some 
distance  into  the  country  and  at  almost  right- 
angles  to  each  other.  They  called  one  of 


32  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

these  East  Creek  and  the  other  West  Creek. 
Both  have  entirely  disappeared.  The  tracks 
of  a  great  railroad  lie  on  the  bed  of  one  and 
the  other  has  become  a  busy  street.  Small 
vessels  could  enter  the  East  Creek  as  far  as 
the  corner  of  the  present  State  and  Chapel 
streets.  But  the  Puritan  settlers  sailed  up 
the  West  Creek  where  their  friends,  who  had 
spent  the  long  winter  there,  were  awaiting 
them.  They  made  a  landing  near  what  is 
now  the  corner  of  George  and  College  streets. 
Perhaps  a  rude  wharf  had  been  built  for  their 
use.1 

Tradition  says  that  the  schooner  came  to 
anchor  in  the  creek  on  Friday  but  that  a 
landing  was  not  made  until  the  next  day. 
What  a  busy  Saturday  that  must  have  been! 
Everybody  was  up  bright  and  early  getting 
ready  to  land.  Their  friends  ashore  were 
eagerly  waiting  to  welcome  them  and  no 
doubt  some  of  the  neighboring  Indians  were 
looking  curiously  on  and  wondering  at  the 
strange  dress  of  the  women,  for  most  of  them 
had  never  seen  white  men's  wives  before. 


THE    LANDING    AT    QUINNII'IAC    IN    1638. 


A   FOUR-SQUARE    CITY.  33 

Soon  they  had  landed  and  were  hard  at 
work.  The  first  thing  they  had  to  do  was 
to  make  some  kind  of  shelter  for  themselves. 
The  weather  was  still  quite  cold  and  snow 
often  covered  the  ground.  A  few  huts  had 
been  built  for  them  beforehand,  but  these 
were  not  enough.  Some  tents  which  they 
had  brought  with  them  in  the  vessel  were 
taken  ashore  and  set  up.  Then  more  rude 
huts  were  built  and  even  wigwams  such  as 
the  Indians  used.  But  strangest  of  all  were 
the  cellars  which  some  dug  in  the  side  of  the 
bank  along  the  creek.  These,  when  covered 
over,  were  very  comfortable  in  dry  weather, 
but  damp  and  unhealthy  when  it  rained. 

While  the  men  were  putting  up  the  tents 
and  building  huts,  the  women  were  busy  get- 
ting out  the  beds  and  clothing  and  pans  and 
kettles,  for  they  must  have  a  place  to  sleep 
and  something  to  eat.  The  boys  and  girls 
helped  to  carry  things  from  the  landing 
place  to  the  huts  but  the  smaller  children 
clung  tightly  to  their  mothers'  skirts  frighten- 
ed at  the  Indians  and  the  strangeness  of  the 


34  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

place.  What  a  tired  lot  of  people  that  night ! 
And  how  glad  they  were  that  the  next  day 
was  Sunday! 

We  may  be  very  sure  that  one  of  the  first 
things  taken  ashore  at  Quinnipiac  that  Sat- 
urday was  Mr.  Davenport's  Bible  and  the 
sermon  he  was  to  preach  the  next  day.  Sun- 
day was  a  day  of  rest  and  worship  with  those 
Puritan  founders  of  New  Haven  and  they 
hoped  it  would  be  with  those  who  should 
come  after  them  for  all  time.  Although  they 
were  very  busy  getting  settled  no  work  could 
be  done  on  the  Sabbath  Day.  If  anyone  for- 
got to  take  some  needed  thing  ashore  the 
day  before  he  had  to  get  along  without  it 
until  Monday.  They  had  no  church  but  that 
did  not  matter ;  a  large  oak  tree  with  spread- 
ing branches  which  stood  near  their  landing 
place,  was  good  enough  for  them  until  they 
could  build  a  church. 

With  his  people  gathered  about  him  seated 
on  logs  and  stumps  and  the  Indians  standing 
around  in  awe,  Mr.  Davenport  preached  that 
first  Sunday  morning  at  Quinnipiac  on  the 


A    FOUR-SQUARE    CITY.  35 

"  temptations  of  the  wilderness."  This  stern 
Puritan  minister  was  wise  enough  to  foresee 
unusual  temptations.  In  a  new  and  strange 
country  the  people  would  be  tempted  to  do 
things  which  they  would  not  think  of  doing 
at  home.  The  desire  to  build  their  new 
homes  as  soon  as  possible  would  tempt  them 
to  neglect  their  religious  duties.  They  would 
be  tempted  to  cheat  the  Indians  because  they 
were  ignorant  and  weak.  So  there  was  need 
for  such  a  sermon.  Just  what  Mr.  Daven- 
port said  that  April  Sunday,  1638,  we  do  not 
know,  but  we  may  be  very  sure  the  people 
believed  his  words  and  tried  to  do  as  he  said. 
In  the  afternoon,  another  minister,  Mr.  Prud- 
den,  preached,  so  the  whole  day  was  spent 
in  worship  and  the  people  had  no  time  for 
labor  had  they  wanted  it. 

Monday  morning  found  them  again  hard  at 
work.  It  probably  took  them  several  days 
to  unload  everything  from  the  vessel  and 
get  it  under  cover.  Meanwhile  leading  men 
like  Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Goodyear  were  look- 
ing around  to  see  just  where  to  lay  out  the; 


;o  STORIES  OF  OLD   NEW   HAVEHL 

town.  As  most  of  them  expected  to  engage 
in  trade  they  wanted  to  live  near  together 
and  within  a  short  distance  of  the  harbor. 
So  they  did  not  plan  large  farms  for  each 
family  but  small  lots  each  just  big  enough 
for  a  house  and  garden.  Now  among  these 
settlers  was  a  young  man  named  John  Brock- 
ett  who  was  a  surveyor.  It  is  said  that  he 
left  his  home  in  England  because  he  wanted 
to  marry  a  Puritan  maiden  who  was  in  the 
company.  With  his  help  a  half-mile  square 
•,v2.;  marked  out  ar.  1  divided  ir.::  nine  e:uil 
parts.  One  side  of  this  square  lay  along  the 
West  Creek  and  is  now  George  street.  At 
right-angles  to  this  was  another  side  which 
bordered  the  East  Creek  and  forms  the  pres- 
ent State  street.  Grove  and  York  streets 
were  the  other  two  sides  of  the  square.  What 
are  now  Church,  College,  Chapel,  and  Elm 
streets  divided  it  into  nine  equal  parts  which 
they  called  "  quarters."  The  central  quarter 
was  set  apart  for  a  market-place,  and  has 
now  become  the  beautiful  Green.  The  other 
quarters  were  fenced  in  as  soon  as  possible 


A    FOUR-SQUARE    CITY.  37 

and  divided  among  the  "  free  planters."  The 
free  planters  were  those  who  had  united 
to  form  the  company  and  had  given  money 
to  pay  the  cost  of  moving  to  New  England 
and  building  a  new  colony.  So  each  free- 
planter  was  given  a  lot.  The  size  of  the  lot 
depended  partly  on  the  amount  of  money 
he  had  given,  and  partly  on  the  number  of 
persons  in  his  family.  Mr.  Eaton,  who  gave 
the  most  money  and  had  the  largest  family, 
of  course,  had  the  largest  lot.  Those  who 
were  old  friends  and  those  who  had  come 
from  the  same  part  of  England  were  given 
lots  in  the  same  quarter  where  they  could  be 
near  neighbors.  As  there  was  not  land 
enough  for  all  in  the  half-mile  square,  some 
were  given  lots  outside.  Some  of  these  lots 
lay  between  what  are  now  Meadow  and  lower 
State  streets;  others  were  on  the  other  side 
of  the  West  Creek. 

The  woods  were  not  very  thick  where  the 
town  was  laid  out.  In  some  places,  where 
the  Indians  had  planted  corn,  there  were  no 
trees,  but  only  tangled  bushes  and  briers. 


38  STORIES    OF    OLD    XEW    HAVEN. 

As  soon  as  possible  the  trees  were  cut  down 
and  fences  built.  Some  of  the  latter  were 
made  of  pickets  and  others  of  rough  logs. 
Then  they  made  ready  the  ground  for  their 
gardens.  While  many  were  busy  in  this  way 
others  were  getting  lumber  ready  for  use  in 
building  houses.  As  they  had  no  saw-mill, 
they  had  to  saw  the  logs  by  hand.  This 
was  slow  and  hard  work.  We  may  be  very 
sure  there  was  many  a  backache  when  night 
came  during  all  that  first  summer  at  Quinni- 
piac.  Then,  too,  there  were  wells  to  be  dug 
and  boats  to  be  built. 

So  the  summer  of  1638  was  a  very  busy 
one  for  the  new  colony,  and  a  hard  one  as 
well.  The  spring  was  late,  the  cold  lasting 
until  May.  In  some  places  corn  had  to  be 
planted  two  or  three  times  over,  for  it  rotted 
in  the  ground.  But  the  harvest  was  a  good 
one  and  there  was  plenty  to  eat.  In  June, 
a  terrible  earthquake  frightened  the  people 
and  shook  the  little  colony  to  its  foundation. 
But  they  kept  right  on  building,  and  by  late 
fall  most  of  those  who  came  in  April  had 


t 
A    FOUR-SQUARE    CITV.  39 

their  houses  ready  to  live  in.  Some  were 
probably  log-cabins  not  much  better  than  the 
huts  they  had  made  at  first  except  that  the 
cracks  were  stopped  up  with  clay.  Others 
were  rude  frame  buildings  made  from 
squared  timbers  and  covered  with  rough 
boards  or  shingles.  But  a  number  were  quite 
large  and  stately  houses,  and,  it  is  said,  were 
better  than  any  other  houses  in  New  Eng- 
land. It  took  much  longer  to  build  these, 
of  course,  and  probably  they  were  not  fin- 
ished during  the  first  year.  But  before  the 
first  snow  fell  in  the  next  winter  the  new 
town  was  well  started  on  its  career. 

Now  let  us  see  who  some  of  the  leading 
men  were,  and  where  they  had  lots  in  the 
half-mile  square.  Theophilus  Eaton  should 
be  mentioned  first.  He  was  the  wealthiest 
of  all  the  founders  and  Governor  of  the  col- 
ony as  long  as  he  lived.  His  house  was 
probably  the  largest  in  the  town  and  stood 
on  the  north  side  of  Elm  street  about  half- 
way between  Church  and  State  streets.  He 
needed  a  large  house,  for  there  was  a  large' 


4O  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

number  of  persons  in  his  family.  Besides  his 
mother,  wife  and  children  there  were  several 
young  persons  who  had  been  placed  under 
his  care  and  protection.  These,  with  the 
servants,  sometimes  numbered  as  many  as 
thirty.  It  is  said  that  nineteen  fireplaces  kept 
this  great  house  warm  in  winter.  The  large 
central  room  was  furnished  with  fine  carved 
tables,  chairs,  and  "  Turkey  "  carpets ;  and 
immense  brass  andirons  stood  in  its  great 
fireplace.  In  this  room  the  whole  family 
gathered  for  their  meals  and  for  prayers. 
Then,  Mr.  Eaton  had  a  library  and  office 
where  he  loved  to  spend  much  time  in  reading 
and  study.  His  brother,  Samuel,  lived  next 
door  near  the  corner  of  State  street ;  but  he 
did  not  remain  in  New  Haven  long.  He 
returned  to  England  where  he  died. 

The  lot  of  Mr.  Davenport,  the  minister, 
was  across  the  street  from  Mr.  Eaton.  His 
house  was  also  large  and  stately,  and  con- 
tained thirteen  fireplaces.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  rooms  m  this  house  was  the 
"  study,"  for  Mr.  Davenport  had  a  great 


A    FOUR-SQUARE    CITY.  4! 

many  books  for  those  days.  He  spent  so 
much  of  his  time  with  them,  that  the  In- 
dians called  him  "  so  big  study  man."  Noth- 
ing was  done  in  the  new  colony  without  ask- 
ing his  advice,  and  all  the  people  loved  him 
and  paid  him  great  reverence. 

Thomas  Gregson  was  another  leading  man 
in  the  colony.  His  lot  was  on  the  corner  of 
Church  and  Chapel  streets.  The  narrow 
street  under  the  Insurance  Building  called 
Gregson  Alley,  owes  its  name  to  him.  His 
house  was  also  one  of  the  largest  in  the  town. 
He  was  a  merchant  and  engaged  in  com- 
merce. In  1644  he  was  chosen  to  go  to 
England  and  get  a  charter  for  the  colony 
from  Parliament,  but  the  ship  in  which  he 
sailed  was  lost  at  sea. 

Among  the  rest  of  these  "  first  settlers  " 
were  George  Lamberton,  a  famous  sea  cap- 
tain; Nathanael  Turner,  the  commander  of 
the  military  company;  Robert  Newman,  in 
whose  great  barn  the  free-planters  met  to 
form  a  government  for  the  colony;. William 
Andrews,  who  kept  the  first  "  ordinary,"  or 


42  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

hotel;  John  Cooper,  who  looked  after  the 
fences  every  week;  and  Francis  Newman, 
who  was  lieutenant  of  the  artillery  company 
and  Governor  after  Mr.  Eaton  died.2 

For  two  years  after  the  settlement  of  the 
town,  Quinnipiac  was  the  only  name  it  had. 
In  1640  the  General  Court  decided  to  give 
it  a  new  name,  and  the  old  record  of  that 
year  says,  "'This  town  now  called  New  Ha- 
ven." By  that  time  it  had  grown  to  a  popu- 
lation of  nearly  five  hundred  and  had  become 
the  mother  of  other  settlements.  The  peo- 
ple who  came  from  Herefordshire,  England, 
and  were  given  the  southwest  quarter,  all 
moved  to  Wepowaug  in  1639;  there  they 
built  a  town  of  their  own  and  named  it  Mil- 
ford.  A  year  later  a  number  of  families  from 
Kent,  England,  moved  to  Menunkatuck  and 
founded  Guilford.  About  the  same  time 
some  people  from  Norfolkshire,  England, 
went  across  to  Long  Island  and  built  the 
town  of  Southhold.  In  1640  New  Haven 
bought  the  territory  at  Rippowams  from  the 
Indians  and  the  same  year  sold  it  to  a  com- 


SETTLEMENT   AT    QUIN  NIPI  AC1,.  43 

pany  that  came  from  Wethersfield,  Connecti- 
cut. This  new  settlement  was  named  Stam- 
ford. In  1644  Totoket  was  settled  by  an- 
other company  from  Wethersfield  and  given 
the  name  Branford.  All  these  new  towns 
united  with  the  town  of  New  Haven  under 
the  same  government  and  thus  formed  the 
"  New  Haven  Colony." 


CHAPTER  III. 
How  Momaugin  Sold  Quinnipiac. 

When  the  founders  of  New  Haven  began 
their  settlement  at  Quinnipiac  in  1638,  the 
Dutch  at  Manhattan  (New  York)  did  not 
like  it  at  all.  They  declared  that  Quinnipiac 
belonged  to  them,  and  the  English  had  no 
right  to  settle  there.  But  the  English  claim- 
ed it,  too,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  Dutch. 
Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Davenport,  however,  as 
they  were  wise  and  honest  men,  thought  that, 
after  all,  Quinnipiac  belonged  to  the  Indians 
who  lived  there.  At  any  rate  they  did  not 
think  it  would  be  right  to  stay  there  without 
paying  the  redmen  for  the  land.  Thus  they 
would  obtain  not  only  a  good  title  to  the  soil, 
but  the  goodwill  and  friendship  of  their  dusky 
neighbors  as  well. 

Now  there  were  only  a  few  Indians  living 


MOMAUGIN    SOLD    QUINNIPIAC.  45 

in  the  country  around  Quinnipiac  in  '1638. 
Great  heaps  of  oyster  shells  found  along  the 
shore  by  the  English  proved  that  there  had 
been  a  large  number  of  them  years  before. 
But  wars  with  other  tribes,  famines  and  terri- 
ble diseases  had  killed  them.  There  were 
hardly  enough  left  to  make  one  small  tribe, 
and  they  were  called  the  Quinnipiacs. 
Momaugin,  the  Sachem  of  this  tribe,  could 
find  but  forty-seven  men  and  boys  for  his 
band  of  warriors;  and  there  were  but  a  few 
women  and  children  besides.  They  lived  in 
what  is  now  East  Haven.  Beyond  East 
Rock  there  were  a  few  more  under  the  lead 
of  Montowese,  and  there  were  only  ten  men 
among  them.  So,  by  1639,  there  were  prob- 
ably as  many,  if  not  more,  English  people 
at  Quinnipiac  than  Indians. 

These  Indians  had  long  lived  in  great  fear 
of  their  enemies,  the  Pequots,  and  especially 
of  the  Mohawks,  who  came  from  the  Hudson 
River  region,  and  treated  them  with  great 
cruelty,  sometimes  forcing  them  to  pay  long 
strings  of  wampum  for  taxes.  So  terrible 


46  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

was  the  war-whoop  of  a  Mohawk  to  their 
ears,  that  they  had  several  times  fled  to  the 
settlement  at  Hartford  for  protection.  And 
so  when  the  English  came  to  live  near  them, 
and  on  their  own  lands,  the  Quinnipiacs  were 
not  angry,  but  welcomed  them  as  friends 
and  protectors. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Eaton's  company  decided 
to  go  to  Quinnipiac  a  letter  was  sent  (prob- 
ably by  an  Indian  runner)  to  the  men  who 
were  staying  there,  asking  them  to  make  ar- 
rangements with  the  Indians  for  the  pur- 
chase of  their  land.  No  written  agreement 
could  be  made  then,  for  the  Indians  and  the 
white  men  did  not  understand  each  other 
very  well.  But  the  Indians  made  it  plain 
that  the  English  would  be  welcomed;  and  the 
price  offered  for  their  land  was  very  satis- 
factory to  them.  So  when  Mr.  Eaton  ar- 
rived they  were  ready  to  sign  a  treaty  of  sale. 

It  was  some  time  before  the  actual  pur- 
chase could  be  made,  however.  In  the  first 
place  they  must  find  some  white  man  who 
could  speak  the  Indian  language  and  explain 


MOMAUGIN    SOLD    QUINNIPIAC.  47. 

the  treaty  to  the  Quinnipiacs.  And  then  it 
would  be  better  to  wait  awhile  and  see  how 
the  redmen  behaved.  Then  they  could  judge 
better  what  the  terms  of  the  treaty  ought 
to  be.  This  was  a  very  wise  thing  to  do,  for 
before  the  first  summer  was  passed  the  In- 
dians were  found  to  be  very  troublesome 
neighbors.  In  fact  they  were  a  nuisance.  Of 
course,  they  were  not  used  to  the  habits 
of  the  English  and  they  did  some  things 
which  were  not  very  nice,  and  others  which 
Mr.  Davenport  probably  thought  were  quite 
wrong.  They  used  to  walk  right  into  the 
English  huts  without  knocking  or  asking 
permission.  They  often  stole  fish  from  the. 
English  nets  and  used  boats  and  canoes  with- 
out leave.  They  set  traps  where  the  cattle 
would  be  caught  and  injured.  They  some- 
times came  into  the  town  on  Sunday  to  trade, 
and  hung  around  the  houses  while  the  peo- 
ple were  at  church. 

Of  course  the  English  could  not  allow  such 
things  to  go  on  very  long,  and  so,  when  the 
treaty  was  drawn  up,  Mr.  Eaton  made  the 


48  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW   HAVEN. 

Indians  agree  not  to  do  them  any  more. 
Now  the  only  white  man  living  anywhere 
near  Quinnipiac,  who  could  speak  the  In- 
dian language  well,  was  Thomas  Stanton  of 
Hartford.  So  they  sent  for  him  to  come  and 
explain  the  treaty  to  the  Indians.  It  was  the 
last  of  November,  1638,  before  Mr.  Stanton 
arrived.  Word  was  then  sent  to  Momaugin, 
and  he  and  his  Councillors  came  into  the 
town  to  hear  what  the  strange  looking  paper 
with  the  English  writing  on  it  meant.  The 
signing  of  this  treaty  between  the  English 
and  Indians  at  Quinnipiac  probably  took 
place  somewhere  on  the  "  market-place." 
Perhaps  Momaugin  and  his  Councillors, 
wrapped  in  blankets,  with  the  leading  men  of 
the  colony,  sat  in  a  circle  about  a  fire,  for 
the  season  was  late.  About  them  stood  the 
rest  of  the  people  curiously  watching  the 
Indians  and  listening  to  the  reading  of  the 
treaty.  Mr.  Stanton,  standing  in  their  midst, 
spoke  in  a  loud,  clear  voice  and  explained 
each  word  and  sentence  of  the  writing  to  the 
Quinnipiacs  in  their  own  language.  Momau- 


MOMAUGIN    SOLD    QUINNIPIAC.  49 

gin  no  doubt  showed  his  approval  by  fre- 
quent grunts,  and,  when  the  reading  was 
finished,  signed  the  document  by  making  his 
"  mark  "  in  the  form  of  a  bow.  Several  of 
his  Councillors  also  made  their  "  marks," 
and  then,  underneath  these,  was  the  "  mark  " 
of  the  squaw  Sachem,  Shampishuh,  the  sis- 
ter of  Momaugin. 

Now  let  us  see  what  the  terms  of  this  treaty 
were,  and  how  they  were  carried  out.  In 
the  first  place  Momaugin  declared  that  he 
owned  all  the  land  in  Quinnipiac  and  alone 
had  the  right  to  sell  it.  Mr.  Eaton  did  not 
wish  to  give  others  a  chance  to  claim  it  later. 
Then  the  treaty  stated  that  the  Indians  free- 
ly gave  up  to  Mr.  Eaton  and  the  other  Eng- 
lishmen, all  right  to  all  the  land,  rivers,  ponds 
and  trees,  with  all  the  liberties  belonging  to 
them,  in  Quinnipiac,  as  far  as  it  extended 
East,  West,  North  and  South.  In  return  for 
all  this  they  asked  for  but  three  things :  first, 
a  place  in  what  is  now  East  Haven  where 
they  could  live  and  plant  their  corn ;  second, 
the  right  to  hunt  and  fish  in  Quinnipiac;  and, 


CO  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

third,  protection  from  the  Mohawks  and  their 
other  enemies. 

No  doubt  the  English  were  very  glad  to 
get  so  much  land  and  timber  so  cheaply,  and 
readily  agreed  to  these  conditions.  But,  re- 
membering how  badly  these  same  Indians  had 
acted  during  the  few  months  they  had  lived 
at  Quinnipiac,  Mr.  Eaton  and  his  friends  had 
them  agree  to  the  following  terms.  They 
must  not  set  traps  where  cattle  might  be 
caught  or  hurt;  or  frighten  away  or  steal 
fish  from  the  English  nets.  They  were  not 
to  come  into  the  town  on  Sunday  to  trade 
or  hang  around  the  houses  while  the  English 
were  at  church.  They  were  not  to  open  the 
latch  of  any  Englishman's  door  without  per- 
mission, or  remain  in  the  house  when  told  to 
leave.  They  were  not  to  take  any  boat  or 
canoe  belonging  to  the  English  without  the 
consent  of  the  owner.  Not  more  than  six 
at  a  time  were  to  come  into  the  town  with 
bows  and  arrows  or  other  weapons ;  nor  must 
they  in  any  way  harm  an  English  man,  wom- 
an or  child.  They  must  pay  for  cattle  they 


MOMAUGIN    SOLD    QUINNIPIAC.  5! 

killed  or  injured  and  return  those  that  stray- 
ed away.  They  must  not  allow  other  In- 
dians to  come  and  live  with  them  without  the 
consent  of  the  English;  and  they  promised 
to  tell  the  English  of  any  wicked  plots  against 
them.  Finally,  they  agreed  to  have  all 
wrong-doers  punished  by  the  English. 

On  their  part  the  English  agreed  to  pay 
the  Indians  for  any  damage  done  them,  and 
to  punish  all  who  wronged  them  in  any  way. 
Then  in  return  for  all  they  received,  they 
gave  to  Momaugin  and  his  followers  these 
tilings :  one  dozen  coats,  one  dozen  spoons, 
one  dozen  hoes,  one  dozen  hatchets,  one  doz- 
en "  porengers,"  3two  dozen  knives,  and  four 
cases  of  French  knives  and  scissors. 

Two  weeks  later  (in  December)  the  Eng- 
lish bought  some  more  land  from  Montowese 
and  his  small  band  of  warriors  who  lived  be- 
yond East  Rock.  The  terms  of  this  treaty 
were  nearly  the  same  as  those  with  Momau- 
gin. The  Indians  were  given  what  is  now 
called  Montowese  for  their  home,  and  had 
permission  to  hunt  and  fish  like  the  Quinni- 


C2  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

piacs.  They  promised  to  pay  damages  when 
their  dogs  injured  the  English  cattle,  and  the 
English  agreed  to  pay  them  damages  when 
their  hogs  injured  the  Indians'  corn.  Monto- 
wese  and  his  followers  were  given  one  dozen 
coats,  the  one  for  Montowese  himself  being 
"  made  up  after  ye4  English  Manner." 

The  land  which  the  Indians  sold  in  these 
two  treaties  is  now  covered  by  the  towns 
of  New  Haven,  East  Haven,  Branford,  North 
Branford,  North  Haven,  Wallingford,  Chesh- 
ire, Hamden,  Bethany,  Woodbridge  and 
Orange.  It  would  seem  to  us  that  Mr.  Eaton 
and  his  friends  paid  a  very  small  sum  for 
this  great  tract  of  land  which  is  now  worth 
so  many  millions  of  dollars.  But  we  must 
remember  that  it  was  unimproved  land  and 
had  to  be  cleared  and  made  fit  for  use  by  the 
English.  And  then  it  was  really  not  worth 
much  to  the  Indians.  They  could  not  use  all 
of  it,  and  a  small  place  grew  corn  enough  to 
support  their  few  numbers.  They  could  still 
hunt  and  fish  in  the  remainder,  and  that  was 
all  they  had  ever  done  with  it.  And  then, 


MOMAUGIN HIS    MARK. 


MA.NTOWESK — HIS    MARK. 


MOMAUGIN   SOLD    QUINNIPIAC.  53 

too,  these  few  knives  and  hatchets  and  hoes 
were  greatly  valued  by  the  redmen.  That 
was  not  all  they  received  for  it,  however. 
The  best  part  of  the  bargain,  they  thought, 
\vas  the  protection  the  English  gave  them 
from  the  Mohawks. 

These  agreements  with  the  Indians  were 
faithfully  observed  by  the  English  settlers  at 
Quinnipiac.  They  always  treated  their  sav- 
age neighbors  with  justice  and  kindness,  not 
only  because  they  wanted  to  keep  them 
friendly,  but  because  it  was  right.  If  an  In- 
dian was  wronged  or  injured  by  a  white  man, 
justice  was  done.  When  an  Indian  guide 
named  Wash  was  attacked  and  had  his  arm 
broken  by  an  angry  sailor,  because  he  asked 
for  his  pay,  the  Court  sent  the  seaman  to 
prison  and  ordered  the  doctor  to  care  for 
the  broken  arm.  At  another  time  a  man 
stole  some  meat  from  an  Indian  named 
Ourance.  He  had  to  pay  the  Indian  double 
the  price  of  the  meat,  and  twenty  shillings 
fine  to  the  town,  and  then  sit  in  the  stocks 
awhile. 


54  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Once  the  Indians  complained  that  the  hogs 
of  the  English  ate  their  corn  and  made  their 
squaws  and  children  cry.  They  asked  the 
English  to  help  them  fence  in  their  land  to 
keep  the  hogs  out.  At  the  same  time  the 
Sagamore  wanted  the  town  to  give  him  a 
coat  because  he  was  old  and  poor  and  couldn't 
work.  So  the  town  gave  the  poor  old  In- 
dian warrior  a  coat  and  appointed  men  "  fit 
and  able  "  to  help  build  fences  around  the 
Indian  cornfields.  As  a  result  of  these  kind 
acts  no  Indian  tomahawk  was  ever  raised 
against  New  Haven  nor  an  Indian  war- 
whoop^  ever  heard  in  its  streets.5 


CHAPTER  IV. 

How  the  Laws   of  Moses    Became  the 
Laws  of  New  Haven. 

When  the  founders  of  New  Haven  came 
to  Quinnipiac  in  1638,  they  brought  no  laws 
with  them  except  the  laws  of  Moses  which 
they  found  in  the  Bible.  For  more  than  a 
year  they  got  along  without  any  settled  form 
of  government,  merely  agreeing  to  do  every- 
thing according  to  these  laws.  During  that 
time,  as  well  as  later,  Mr.  Eaton  was  looked 
up  to  by  all  as  a  father  and  judge.  If  two 
persons  got  into  a  quarrel,  they  asked  Mr. 
Eaton  to  settle  it.  Then  he  took  down  his 
Bible  and  read  the  law  on  the  subject  and 
decided  the  dispute  accordingly.  When  any- 
one did  something  wrong,  Mr.  Eaton  look- 
ed in  the  Bible  again  to  see  what  the  punish- 
ment should  be;  if  he  was  not  sure  about  it, 


56  STORIES    OF   OLD    NEW   HAVEN. 

he  probably  talked  with  Mr.  Davenport  and 
found  out  what  punishment  he  thought  was 
best. 

A  whipping  post  was  set  up  somewhere  on 
the  market-place  and  some  "  stocks  "  built 
with  which  to  punish  wrong-doers.  Perhaps 
there  was  little  need  for  them  the  first  few 
months  because  the  people  were  too  busy  to 
get  into  very  serious  mischief.  Still  it  was 
a  wise  plan  to  have  them  ready,  otherwise 
some  evil-minded  persons  would  be  tempted 
to  make  trouble. 

The  agreement  they  made  to  go  by  these 
old  Mosaic  laws  was  written  down  in  their 
records  in  the  following  words : 

"  In  the  layinge  of  the  first  fowndations  of  this 
plantation  and  jurisdiction,  vpon  [upon]  a  full  debate 
wth  [with]  due  &  serious  consideration  it  was 
aggreed,  concluded  &  setled  as  a  fundamental!  law, 
not  to  bee  disputed  or  questioned  hereafter,  that  the 
judiciall  lawes  of  God,  as  they  were  deliuered  [deliv- 
ered] by  Moses,  &  expownded  in  other  parts  of 
scripture,  so  farr  as  they  are  a  fence  [defence]  to  the 
morrall  law,  &  neither  tipicall,  [typical]  nor  ceremo- 
niall,  nor  had  refference  to  Canaan  shalbe  accounted  of 
morrall  &  binding  equity  and  force,  and  as  God  shall 
helpe  shalbe  a  constant  direction  for  all  proceedings 


THE    LAWS    OF    MOSES.  $'fi 

here,  &  a  gennerall  rule  in  all  courts  of  Justice  ho\r 
to  judge  betwixt  partie  and  partie,  &  how  to  punis'u 
offenders,  till  the  same  may  be  branched  out  into  per- 
ticulers  [particulars]  hereafter." 

Not  only  did  these  founders  of  New  Ha- 
ven have  no  laws  but  those  of  the  Bible  when 
they  landed;  they  had  no  charter  of  govern- 
ment even.  They  knew  King  Charles  would 
not  have  given  them  one  if  they  had  asked 
it.  So  they  had  no  written  constitution  of 
any  kind  to  tell  them  how  they  were  to  be 
governed.  But  that  did  not  trouble  them 
much,  for  they  knew  they  could  govern 
themselves  quite  well.  They  waited  more 
than  a  year  before  they  decided  what  form 
of  government  to  establish  for  their  new  col- 
ony, and  there  were  several  good  reasons 
for  this. 

In  the  first  place  it  was  a  very  important 
matter  and  must  not  be  settled  in  a  hurry. 
For  awhile  they  were  too  busy  building  their 
new  homes  to  attend  to  it.  Then  some  of 
their  number  were  planning  to  build  a  sep- 
arate town  nearby,  and  did  not  care  to  say 


58  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

anything  about  the  kind  of  government  New 
Haven  should  have.  These  people  did  move 
away  very  soon  and  founded  the  town  of 
Milford. 

But  there  was  a  still  more  important  rea- 
son for  this  delay.  We  have  already  learned 
that  the  early  settlers  of  New  Haven  were 
strong  Puritans  who  left  England  because 
they  wished  to  worship  God  in  a  different  and 
more  simple  way  than  the  English  Church 
allowed.  Now,  while  they  all  agreed  as  to 
the  way  they  ought  to  worship,  they  did  not 
all  agree  as  to  the  way  they  should  be  gov- 
erned, 

Mr.  Davenport  came  to  New  England  with 
the  ambition  to  found  a  state  "  whose  design 
is  religion."  That  is,  he  thought  that,  as  the 
main  object  of  a  state  should  be  to  train  men 
and  women  to  be  God-fearing  and  Christian, 
so  the  government  of  the  state  ought  to  be 
managed  by  Christians  only,  and  by  Chris- 
tians he  meant  members  of  the  Church.  They 
alone  should  have  the  right  to  vote  and  hold 
office,  for  they  alone  were  fitted  for  such 


THE    LAWS    OF    MOSES.  59 

duties.  Mr.  Eaton  and  most  of  the  others  in 
the  company  believed  in  the  same  way. 

There  were  some  among  their  number, 
however,  who,  like  the  Pilgrims,  had  sep- 
arated from  the  English  Church.  These  Sep- 
aratists believed  that  in  civil  government  men 
should  have  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office 
even  if  they  were  not  members  of  the  Church. 
So  when  these  founders  of  New  Haven  came 
to  talk  over  the  question  of  what  form  of 
government  they  should  have,  they  did  not 
all  quite  agree.  Mr.  Davenport  was,  of 
course,  the  leader  of  those  who  believed  that 
only  free  planters  belonging  to  the  Church 
should  rule.  He  tried  to  prove  this  from  the 
Bible.  Reverend  Samuel  Eaton,  brother  of 
Theophilus  Eaton,  was  the  leader  of  the  other 
party,  and  thought  that  all  the  free  planters 
should  have  the  right  to  vote. 

After  they  had  discussed  the  question  for 
a  long  time,  finally,  in  June,  1639,  they  all 
met  to  decide  it.  This  meeting  was  held  in 
Mr.  Newman's  big  barn  which  stood  not  far 
from  the  present  building  of  the  New  Haven 


60  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Colony  Historical  Society  on  Grove  street. 
Mn  Davenport  did  most  of  the  talking  at 
this  meeting  and  told  the  people  what  form 
of  government  he  thought  they  ought  to 
have.  A  number  of  questions  were  written 
down  and  read  aloud  by  Mr.  Newman,  and 
then  voted  upon.  Mr.  Davenport  urged 
them  to  think  very  carefully  about  each  one, 
and  not  vote  for  it  unless  they  were  sure 
they  were  in  favor  of  it.  And  to  make  it 
doubly  sure  they  voted  on  each  question 
twice. 

They  first  agreed  that  the  Bible  contained 
a  "  perfect  rule  "  for  the  government  of  the 
State  as  well  as  of  the  Church.  They  next 
voted  to  go  by  the  laws  of  the  Bible  in  all 
their  public  affairs,  just  as  they  had  done 
during  the  first  year.  Then  they  all  declared, 
by  holding  up  their  hands,  that  they  wished 
to  become  members  of  the  Church  they  were 
about  to  form.  At  last  they  took  up  the 
important  question  as  to  who  should  have 
the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office.  They 
finally  decided  that  only  Church  members 


THE    LAWS    OF    MOSES.  6l 

should  have  that  right,  although  Mr.  Samuel 
Eaton  would  not  agree  to  it,  and  said  that 
all  the  free  planters  ought  to  vote. 

Before  the  meeting  was  ended  they  ap- 
pointed twelve  men,  who,  in  turn,  chose  sev- 
en of  their  number  to  organize  a  Church, 
So  these  seven  men  became  the  "  pillars  " 
of  the  first  church  formed  at  New  Haven. 
Their  names  were  Theophilus  Eaton,  John 
Davenport,  Robert  Newman,  Matthew  Gil- 
bert, Thomas  Fugill,  John  Punderson  and 
Jeremiah  Dixon.  The  Church  was  formed 
in  August,  1639,  and,  soon  after,  a  meeting- 
house was  built  in  the  center  of  the  market- 
place. The  next  October  the  voters  met  and 
held  their  first  election.  Mr.  Eaton  was 
chosen  "  magistrate  for  the  tearme  of  one 
whole  yeare  "  and  others  were  appointed  to 
assist  him.  Thus  Mr.  Eaton  became  the  first 
Governor  of  the  New  Haven  colony,  and  was 
re-elected  every  year  until  his  death. 

On  the  day  after  his  election  the  Governor 
had  to  try  an  Indian  who  was  charged  with 
murder.  A  few  days  later  this  Indian  was 


THE    LAWS    OF    MOSES.  63 

stole  nearly  five  thousand  pins  from  Mrs. 
Lamberton  together  with  some  "  lynning  " 
[linen]  and  a  "  jugge."  She  also  stole 
things  from  Mrs.  Gilbert,  taking  them  out 
of  a  "  tub  of  water  in  the  colde  of  winter 
when  the  famyly  was  att  prayer."  She  went 
to  visit  a  friend,  at  Connecticut,  and  stole  a 
napkin  from  her.  She  was  certainly  a  bad 
thief  and  needed  severe  punishment.  The 
old  record  gives  the  sentence  of  the  Court 
as  follows: 

"  Now  forasmuch  as  itt  appeares  to  have  beene  her 
trade  she  having  beene  twice  whipped  att  Connec- 
tecutt,  and  thatt  still  she  continues  a  notorious 
theefe  and  a  Iyer,  itt  was  ordered  thatt  she  should  be 
seveerly  whipped  and  restore  whatt  is  found  wth 
[with]  her  in  specie,  and  make  double  restitution  for 
the  rest." 

On  the  same  day  another  thief  was  tried 
by  the  Court: 

"  Andrew  Low,  Junr  [Junior]  for  breaking  into  Mr. 
Lings  house,  where  he  brake  open  a  cup(board)  and 
took  from  thence  some  strong  water,  and  6d  in 
mony,  and  ransackt  all  the  house  from  roome  to 
roome,  and  left  open  the  dores,  for  wch  [which]  fact 
he  being  comitted  to  prison  brake  forth  and  so  es- 


64  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

caped,  and  still  remaines  horrible  obstinate  and  re- 
bellious against  his  parents,  and  incorrigable  vnder 
[under]  all  the  meanes  thatt  have  beene  vsed  [used] 
to  reclaime  him,  wherevpon  itt  was  ordered  thatt  he 
should  be  as  seveerly  whipped  as  the  rule  will  beare, 
and  to  worke  with  his  father  as  a  prisoner  wth  [with] 
a  lock  vpon  his  leg,  so  as  he  may  nott  escape." 

Therefore  Andrew  was  taken  to  the  mar- 
ket-place and  tied  to  the  whipping  post. 
Then  forty  blows  of  the  whip  were  struck 
on  his  bare  back,  for  that  was  as  many  as 
the  Bible  rule  would  allow;  and  they  were 
very  careful  to  do  exactly  as  the  Bible  said. 
Thus  Governor  Eaton  and  his  Assistants 
judged  criminals  and  punished  them  accord- 
ing to  the  "  laws  of  Moses." 

The  General  Court  or  Town-meeting  was 
one  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the 
government  of  the  New  Haven  Colony. 
This  was  a  meeting  of  all  the  free  planters 
to  talk  over  town  affairs  and  pass  laws;  but 
only  those  who  were  church  members  could 
make  the  laws.  At  the  October  meeting 
they  elected  the  Governor  and  other  offi- 
cers. The  meeting  was  called  by  the  beat- 


THE    LAWS    OF    MOSES.  65 

ing  of  a  drum  and  any  who  staid  away  were 
fined.  Sometimes  they  were  excused  be- 
cause they  didn't  hear  the  drum,  or  were 
away  looking  for  lost  cows,  or  someone  in 
the  family  was  very  sick.  One  of  the  first 
things  this  town-meeting  had  to  attend  to 
was  the  question  of  miltary  protection. 
There  were  two  enemies  whom  they  always 
feared,  the  Indians  and  the  Dutch.  For- 
tunately they  never  had  any  trouble  from 
either  one,  and  perhaps  the  reason  was  be- 
cause they  were  always  prepared  to  defend 
themselves. 

New  Haven,  for  the  first  few  years  of  its 
history,  was  a  sort  of  armed  camp.  All  men 
between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty  were 
required  to  have  "  a  good  serviceable  gunne, 
a  good  sword,  bandeleers,6  a  rest,  all  to  be 
allowed  by  the  military  officers,  one  pownd 
[pound]  of  good  gun  powder,  fower  [four] 
pownd  of  bullets,  either  fitted  for  his  gunne 
or  pistoll  bulletts,  wth  [with]  fower  faddome 
[fathom]  of  match  fit  for  service  wth  every 
match  locke,  &  4  or  5  good  flints  fitted  for 


66  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

every  firelock  peece  [piece],  all  in  good  or- 
der &  ready  for  any  suddayne  [sudden]  oc- 
casion, service  or  view."  The  military  com- 
panies drilled  every  Saturday  and  the  sol- 
diers had  target  practice.  A  mark  was  set 
up  to  "  shout  [shoot]  att  for  some  priz 
[prize]."  An  artillery  company  was  also 
formed. 

One  of  the  regular  duties  of  the  soldiers 
was  to  keep  the  watch.  Seven  men  kept 
watch  every  night  and  a  watch-house  was 
built  on  the  market-place  for  their  use.  At 
sundown  the  drummer  beat  the  drum  to  call 
the  watch-men  together.  During  the  night 
these  officers  walked  about  the  town  look- 
ing out  for  enemies  or  fire.  Strict  laws  were 
made  to  compel  the  watchmen  to  perform 
their  duties  faithfully.  On  Sunday  one  com- 
pany went  to  church  armed  and  sat  near  the 
door  while  a  soldier  kept  watch  in  the  tower 
on  the  roof.  No  one  could  furnish  an  In- 
dian with  a  gun  or  other  weapon  without 
an  order  from  the  Governor,  for  they  wish- 
ed to  keep  them  unarmed. 


THE    LAWS    OF    MOSES.  6/ 

Laws  were  also  passed  to  protect  the  town 
from  fire.  The  roofs  of  many  of  the  houses 
were  of  thatch  or  straw,  and  would  easily 
catch  fire.  Of  course  only  wood  was  burn- 
ed in  their  fire-places  and  the  chimneys  had 
to  be  cleaned  very  often  or  the  soot  would 
catch  fire.  It  was  the  special  duty  of  Good- 
man Cooper  to  sweep  chimneys.  People 
could  clean  their  own,  of  course,  but  they 
had  to  do  it  well  or  Goodman  Cooper  would 
complain  of  them.  Each  house  was  also  fur- 
nished with  a  ladder  reaching  to  the  roof; 
and  fire-hooks  were  provided  by  the  town. 
Then,  as  another  measure  of  safety,  people 
were  not  allowed  to  make  bonfires  in  the 
town.  As  a  result  of  all  these  arrangements 
New  Haven  never  suffered  from  serious  fires. 

The  town-meeting  passed  a  good  many 
laws  about  fences,  too.  The  fences  which 
were  built  at  first  soon  rotted  and  were  easily 
broken  down  by  cattle.  This  made  a  lot  of 
trouble  and  cows  often  got  into  the  corn- 
fields ;  they  found  that  even  pigs  would  swim 


68  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

small  streams  and  get  through  weak  fences. 
Many  people  kept  goats  and  let  them  feed 
on  the  market-place;  but  they  found  that 
goats  could  climb  fences  and  get  into  gar- 
dens and  orchards  and  do  much  damage. 
To  put  a  stop  to  all  this  trouble  they  passed 
laws  compelling  house  owners  to  repair  their 
fences  or  build  better  ones;  and  no  goats 
were  allowed  to  feed  on  the  market-place 
without  a  keeper. 

Then  this  old  colonial  town-meeting  look- 
ed after  a  number  of  other  things.  Bridges 
had  to  be  built  and  kept  in  repair ;  and  where 
they  could  not  build  bridges  they  had  to  have 
ferries.  Boats  and  canoes,  which  were  hast- 
ily made  when  they  came  to  Quinnipiac,  be- 
came leaky  and  unfit  for  use  after  awhile. 
After  they  had  had  a  number  of  accidents 
from  the  use  of  such  boats,  two  men  were 
appointed  to  examine  them  and  mark  the 
good  ones.  Then  if  a  person  rented  an  un- 
marked and  leaky  boat,  he  was  fined.  Some 
people  got  into  the  habit  of  borrowing  oars 


THE    LAWS    OF   MOSES.  69 

and  paddles  and  carts  and  wheelbarrows  with- 
out asking  the  owners'  permission;  then, 
when  they  were  through  using  them  forgot 
to  return  them.  So  a  law  was  passed  to 
stop  that. 

The  town-meeting  made  laws  about  mon- 
ey, also.  The  most  common  coins  were  Eng- 
lish shillings  and  Spanish  "  peeces  of  eight." 
But  Indian  money,  or  "  wampum,"  was  used 
as  well.  This  consisted  of  strings  of  polish- 
ed beads  made  from  shells.  The  white  beads 
were  worth  twice  as  much  as  the  black  ones. 
Sometimes  people  tried  to  pay  their  debts 
with  the  black  wampum  because  it  was  not 
as  valuable ;  and  some  even  put  it  on  the  con- 
tribution plate  in  church.  It  was  hard  to 
get  rid  of  this  poor  wampum,  so  the  town- 
meeting  made  a  law  fixing  its  value,  and  Mr. 
Goodyear  was  appointed  to  judge  whether 
wampum  was  good  or  not. 

Then  they  had  to  make  laws  about  weights 
and  measures.  Men  were  appointed  to  ex- 
amine all  the  weights  and  measures  used  in 


JQ  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

the  colony.  Those  which  they  found  to  be 
correct  they  marked  with  a  seal  NH.  Ever 
since  then  there  have  been  "  Sealers  of 
weights  and  measures." 

Thus  we  see  what  a  great  variety  of  mat- 
ters the  old  colonial  town-meeting  had  to  at- 
tend to,  and  how  much  there  was  to  do,  to 
get  the  new  government  into  running  order. 


'CHAPTER  V. 

How  a  Great  Ship  Went  out  through  the 
Ice  and  Came  Back  in  a  Summer  Cloud. 

In  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  inhab- 
itants, New  Haven  was  the  richest  colony 
in  New  England.  Some  of  its  Puritan  set- 
tlers were  quite  wealthy  for  those  early  days. 
Many  of  them  had  been  merchants  and  trad- 
ers in  England,  and  wished  to  engage  in  the 
same  business  in  America  and  make  their 
new  colony  a  commercial  city.  One  reason 
Quinnipiac  was  chosen  as  the  place  for  their 
settlement  was  because  of  its  deep  and  shel- 
tered harbor,  where  ships  could  safely  anchor 
and  land  their  cargoes.  And  then,  in  laying 
out  the  town,  the  central  square,  or  "  quar- 
ter," was  reserved  for  a  public  "  market- 
place "  where  goods  of  all  kinds  could  be 
bought  and  sold. 


•J2  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

The  colonial  town-meeting  made  a  num- 
ber of  laws  to  encourage  commerce  and  aid 
traders.  Ship  captains  were  forbidden  to 
throw  ballast  overboard  into  the  channel  of 
the  harbor  lest  it  should  become  filled  up. 
Ship  carpenters  were  excused  from  military 
service  that  they  might  spend  all  their  time 
building  ships.  No  one  was  allowed  to  cut 
a  spruce  tree  without  the  consent  of  the 
governor,  for  they  wanted  to  preserve  them, 
and  use  them  all  for  masts.  As  the  "  flattes  " 
prevented  large  boats  from  coming  up  to  the 
shore,  a  wharf  was  built ;  this  was  near  where 
the  ruins  of  the  old  City  Market  are,  now. 
So,  in  these  different  ways  they  tried  to  help 
those  who  went  down  to  the  sea  in  ships. 

It  was  not  long  before  Captain  Lamberton 
was  making  voyages  to  Delaware  and  Vir- 
ginia; and  others  to  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Salem,  Connecticut  and  Manhattan.  Then  a 
little  later  New  Haven  vessels  sailed  to  the 
Barbadoes,  the  Bermudas  and  the  West  In- 
dies. They  carried  away  furs,  clapboards 
and  shingles,  wheat,  pork,  and  other  prod- 


THE    SHIP    IN    A    SUMMER    CLOUD.       73 

ucts,  and  brought  back  cotton,  sugar,  and 
molasses.  But  these  voyages  were  not  very 
successful.  The  expense  of  building  or  buy- 
ing new  ships  was  so  heavy,  and  the  cost  of 
sending  out  a  trading  expedition  from  a  new 
colony  was  so  great,  that  there  was  little  left 
for  profit.  And  then,  at  first,  they  were  apt 
to  make  mistakes,  and  so  meet  with  mis- 
fortunes. If  they  sold  lumber  that  was  not 
well  seasoned,  people  in  the  West  Indies 
would  not  buy  any  more  of  them.  A  man  in 
Milford  made  flour  and  biscuit  and  New  Ha- 
ven traders  shipped  it  to  Virginia.  It  was 
such  poor  stuff  that  it  did  not  sell  well,  and 
the  traders  complained  of  it.  So  the  Milford 
baker  had  to  go  to  New  Haven  and  explain 
matters.  He  confessed  the  fault  and  declar- 
ed it  was  due  to  bad  grinding;  but  he  prom- 
ised to  do  better  in  the  future.  The  dam- 
age had  been  done,  however,  and  it  was  hard 
for  New  Haven  merchants  to  sell  flour  or 
biscuit  in  Virginia  after  that. 

But  the  worst  misfortune  that  came  to  the 
New  Haven  traders  during  the  first  few  years 


74  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

occurred  at  Delaware.  The  Indians  at  Quin- 
nipiac  were  so  few  in  number,  that  the  trade 
in  furs,  there,  did  not  amount  to  as  much  as 
was  expected.  So  Mr.  Lamberton  and  a 
few  others  decided  to  build  some  trading  sta- 
tions at  Delaware  Bay  where  they  could  carry 
on  the  fur  trade  with  the  Delaware  and  Sus- 
quehannah  Indians.  For  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars they  bought  all  the  land  in  New  Jersey, 
from  Cape  May  to  the  mouth  of  the  Dela- 
ware river.  Some  twenty  men  went  down 
there  to  build  a  few  huts  and  engage  in  trade. 
On  their  way  they  stopped  at  Manhattan 
where  they  met  the  Dutch  Governor,  who 
promptly  ordered  them  to  go  home  again. 
He  said  that  New  Jersey  belonged  to  the 
Dutch  and  no  Englishman  could  settle  there. 
This  did  not  frighten  the  New  Haven  men, 
however,  and  they  went  on.  But  they  prom- 
ised to  acknowledge  the  Dutch  government 
if  they  found  that  they  were  in  Dutch  terri- 
tory. 

Mr.  Lamberton  and  his  companions  soon 
learned  that  not  only  was  the  land  they  had 


THE    SHIP    IN    A    SUMMER    CLOUD.       75 

bought  claimed  by  the  Dutch,  but  the  Swedes 
who  lived  near,  said  it  belonged  to  them, 
also.  Nevertheless  they  went  to  work,  built 
their  huts  and  began  to  trade.  In  1642  the 
Swedes  and  Dutch  united  to  drive  the  Eng- 
lish away.  A  few  Dutch  ships  sailed  around 
to  Delaware  Bay  and  landed  a  small  force. 
With  the  help  of  the  Swedes  they  attacked 
the  New  Haven  men,  made  some  of  them 
prisoners,  drove  the  rest  away,  seized  their 
goods  and  burned  their  huts.  The  Swedes 
captured  Mr.  Lamberton  and  put  him  in 
prison.  They  charged  him  with  the  crime 
of  trying  to  stir  up  the  Indians  to  war;  but 
they  could  not  prove  it.  They  fined  him 
heavily  because  he  had  traded  at  Delaware 
and  then  sent  him  home. 

This  affair  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  New 
Haveners  and  cost  them  many  thousands  of 
dollars.  They  tried  to  persuade  the  other 
New  England  colonies  to  help  punish  the 
Dutch  and  Swedes  but  without  success.  Mr. 
Lamberton  was  sent  down  to  Delaware  again 
to  demand  satisfaction  from  the  Swedes  but 


76  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

nothing  ever  came  of  his  visit,  and  the  New 
Haven  men  never  recovered  damages  for  the 
loss  of  their  goods  and  huts.  The  claim  to 
the  land  which  had  been  purchased  was  not 
given  up,  however,  and  several  years  later 
another  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to 
build  a  settlement  at  Delaware  Bay.  A  few 
of  the  New  Haven  people  were  quite  discour- 
aged by  the  failure  of  this  enterprise  and 
feared  that  their  ambitions  to  build  up  a 
successful  commercial  city  at  Quinnipiac 
would  never  be  realized.  But  the  rest,  al- 
though discouraged,  did  not  despair  and 
bravely  went  on  with  their  plans. 

New  Haven  merchants  had  always  been 
very  desirous  to  have  ships  sail  direct  to 
England  and  return,  and  thus  save  time  and 
trouble;  for  so  far,  they  had  had  to  go  to 
Massachusetts  Bay,  first.  This  was  an  en- 
terprise which  required  large  ships  and  no 
one  person  could  afford  to  build  them.  In 
1645,  to  make  good  the  losses  they  had  met 
with  at  Delaware  and  other  places,  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  town  formed  a  company  and 


THE    SHIP    IN    A    SUMMER    CLOUD.        77 

bought  a  large  ship  which,  it  is  said,  was  built 
in  Rhode  Island,  and  would  carry  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  tons  cargo.  All  who  could 
possibly  spare  any  money  took  stock  in  this 
company.  Then  Mr.  Eaton,  Mr.  Goodyear, 
Mr.  Malbon  and  Mr.  Gregson  formed  a  sec- 
ond company,  called  the  "  Company  of  Mer- 
chants of  New  Haven/'  and  hired  this  ship 
of  the  first  company  to  make  a  trading  voy- 
age to  England.  So,  nearly,  everyone  in  the 
town  was  interested  in  this  enterprise  and  did 
what  was  possible  to  make  it  a  success. 

Just  what  the  name  of  this  vessel  was  is 
not  known.  Some  have  thought  that  it  was 
called  the  "  Fellowship."  In  the  old  records 
it  is  always  mentioned  as  the  "  great  shippe." 
When  it  sailed  into  New  Haven  harbor,  peo- 
ple went  down  to  the  wharf  to  look  at  it. 
Many  rowed  out  to  examine  it.  Old  sailors 
did  not  like  the  looks  of  it.  Mr.  Lamberton, 
who  was  made  the  captain,  thought  it  was 
a  "  cranky  "  boat,  and  would  easily  capsize 
in  the  middle  of  the  ocean.  But  whether  they 
thought  their  new  ship  was  seaworthy  or  not 


78  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

they  went  right  to  work  and  made  ready  for 
the  voyage.  The  captain  rigged  the  masts 
to  suit  himself  and  had  a  fine  new  set  of 
blocks  or  pulleys  made  for  the  tackling.  Then 
they  filled  the  hold  with  everything  they 
could  find  to  sell.  They  put  in  lumber  and 
hides,  pease  and  wheat,  and  a  lot  of  beaver 
skins.  Some  put  in  their  silver  plates  and 
spoons;  for  they  needed  other  things  more, 
and  their  silverware  was  all  they  had  left  with 
which  to  buy  them.  Besides  these  there  were 
some  of  Mr.  Davenport's  sermons  which  were 
to  be  printed  in  England.  This  cargo  was 
worth  many  thousands  of  dollars,  and,  if  the 
voyage  was  successful,  would  bring  a  hand- 
some profit;  but  if  it  was  a  failure,  the  loss 
would  be  ruinous,  for  it  was  like  putting  all 
their  eggs  in  one  basket. 

The  passengers  who  sailed  in  this  ship 
formed  the  most  precious  part  of  its  burden. 
There  was  a  large  number  of  them,  all  going 
home  to  England,  and  for  various  reasons. 
Mr.  Gregson  was  one.  He  had  charge  of 
the  cargo  and  was  going  to  see  if  he  couldn't 


THE    SHIP    IN    A    SUMMER    CLOUD.       79 

get  a  charter  for  New  Haven  Colony  from 
Parliament.  Nathanael  Turner,  who  was 
captain  of  the  military  company,  was  another. 
Mrs.  Stephen  Goodyear  was  going  home  to 
see  friends  and  relatives.  And  Mrs.  Wilkes 
was  going  to  see  her  husband  who  had  gone 
the  year  before  and  had  sent  for  her  to  join 
him.  Then  there  were  many  others  who 
wrere  homesick  for  old  England  and  anxious 
to  see  their  native  land  again. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  January,  1646,  when 
the  "  Great  Shippe  "  sailed  away.  The  har- 
bor was  frozen  over  and  a  passage  had  to  be 
cut  for  the  vessel  three  miles  through  the 
ice.  A  crowd  of  people  followed  along  the 
side  on  the  frozen  surface,  bidding  farewell 
to  friends  and  loved  ones  with  many  a  tear 
and  many  a  fear.  Mr.  Davenport  was  there 
and  prayed  for  their  welfare  and  safety,  but 
with  an  anxious  heart.  "  Lord,  if  it  be  thy 
pleasure,"  he  said  in  a  trembling  voice,  "  if 
it  be  thy  pleasure  to  bury  these  our  friends 
in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  they  are  thine,  save 
them."  At  last  the  ship  was  free  from  the 


8O  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ice  and  out  of  the  harbor.  Her  sails  filled 
with  the  cold  wind  and  she  soon  disappeared 
in  the  gray  East.  The  people  watched  her 
until  she  was  out  of  sight  and  then  slowly 
and  silently  walked  back  to  the  town  and 
their  winter's  loneliness;  but  not  without 
thoughts  of  the  happy  home-coming  in  the 
fall. 

The  months  passed  away  very  slowly  that 
winter.  The  thoughts  of  all  were  on  the 
absent  ship.  But  summer  came  at  last  and 
with  it  the  arrival  of  ships  from  England. 
But  they  brought  no  tidings  of  Captain  Lam- 
berton  or  his  ship.  This  did  not  cause  much 
anxiety,  however,  for  often  a  vessel  was  driv- 
en far  out  of  her  course  and  was  slow  in 
reaching  the  end  of  her  voyage.  So  they 
waited  with  patience  and  hope.  But  the 
months  went  by  and  still  no  news.  Friends 
became  anxious.  Others  tried  to  cheer  them 
by  suggesting  reasons  for  the  delay.  "  Per- 
haps a  storm  has  driven  them  to  a  foreign 
shore,"  they  said,  or  "  it  may  be  they  have 
been  cast  on  some  distant  island  and  a  pass- 


THE    SHIP    IN    A    SUMMER    CLOUD.       8l 

ing  ship  will  pick  them  up."  Fall  came  and 
the  days  grew  shorter.  Still  no  word  from 
the  absent  ship.  Hope  gave  way  to  despair. 
Many  a  home  was  filled  with  sorrow  and 
mourners  went  about  the  streets.  They  re- 
alized at  last  that  Captain  Lamberton's  worst 
fears  were  come  true,  and  the  "  Great 
Shippe  "  had  been  lost  at  sea. 

Another  sad  and  dreary  winter  passed  in 
the  stricken  colony.  And  while  all  had  given 
up  hope  of  ever  seeing  their  lost  friends 
again,  many  longed  and  prayed  to  know  if 
they  had  really  been  lost  at  sea,  or  had  suf- 
fered some  harder  fate  at  the  hands  of  sav- 
age enemies.  When  summer  came  again  it 
brought  an  answer  to  their  prayers,  but  in 
a  way  they  had  never  expected.  During  the 
afternoon  of  a  warm  June  day,  a  thunder- 
storm passed  over  the  town  of  New  Haven 
and  disappeared  across  the  water  to  Long 
Island.  Soon  afterwards,  about  an  hour  be- 
fore sunset,  the  people  beheld  a  wonderful 
sight.  The  "  Great  Shippe,"  whose  loss  they 
had  mourned  so  long,  came  sailing  in 


82  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

a  cloud  through  the  air  into  the  mouth 
of  the  harbor.  There  could  be  no  mis- 
take about  it.  There  were  the  keel,  hull, 
masts  and  rigging  of  the  same  ship  that  had 
sailed  away  so  many  months  before.  And 
there  on  the  deck,  standing  erect,  was  Cap- 
tain Lamberton  pointing  with  his  sword  out 
to  sea.  On  came  this  wonderful  ship,  her 
sails  bending  before  the  wind,  until  one 
standing  on  the  shore  could  almost  toss  a 
stone  on  board.  Suddenly  there  came  a 
change.  Her  topmasts  seemed  to  be  blown 
off  and  hung  tangled  in  the  rigging;  soon 
all  her  masts  fell  overboard;  then  the  hull 
capsized  and  all  disappeared  in  mist  and 
cloud.  The  people  gazed  upon  this  strange 
sight  with  great  awe.  But  good  Mr.  Daven- 
port comforted  them  and  said  that  God  had 
sent  this  ship  of  air  to  show  them  how  their 
friends  were  lost  at  sea. 

Just  as  the  loss  of  so  many  precious  lives 
crushed  the  spirit  of  the  new  colony,  so  the 
loss  of  so  much  valuable  property  destroyed 
all  hopes  of  its  commercial  success.  In  fact, 


THE    IMIANTOM    SHIP. 


THE  PHANTOM  SHIP. 

In  Mather's  Magnalia  Christi, 
Of  the  old  colonial  time, 
May  be  found  in  prose  the  legend 
That  is  here  set  down  in  rhyme. 

A  ship  sailed  from  New  Haven, 
And  the  keen  and  frosty  airs, 
That  filled  her  sails  at  parting, 
Were  heavy  with  good  men's  prayers. 

"  O  Lord !  if  it  be  thy  pleasure  " — 
Thus  prayed  the  old  divine — 
"  To  bury  our  friends  in  the  ocean, 
Take  them  for  they  are  thine ! " 

But  Master  Lamberton  muttered, 
And  under  his  breath  said  he, 
"  This  ship  is  so  cranky  and  walty, 
I  fear  our  grave  she  will  be !  " 


STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

And  the  ships  that  came  from  England, 
When  the  winter  months  were  gone, 
Brought  no  tidings  of  this  vessel, 
Nor  of  Master  Lamberton. 

This  put  the  people  to  praying 
That  the  Lord  would  let  them  hear 
What  in  his  greater  wisdom 
He  had  done  with  friends  so  dear. 

And  at  last   their  prayers   were   answered; 
It  was  in  the  month  of  June, 
An  hour  before  the  sunset, 
Of  a  windy  afternoon, 

When  steadily  steering  landward, 

A  ship  was  seen  below, 

And  they  knew  it  was  Lamberton,  Master, 

Who  sailed  so  long  ago. 

On  she  came  with  a  cloud  of  cnnvas, 
Right  against  the  wind  that  blew, 
Until  the  eye  could  distinguish 
The  faces  of  the  crew. 


THE    PHANTOM    SHIP. 

Then  fell  her  straining  topmasts, 
Hanging  tangled  in  the  shrouds, 
And  her  sails  were  loosened  and  lifted, 
And  blown  away  like  clouds. 

And  the  masts,  with  all  their  rigging, 
Fell  slowly,  one  by  one, 
And  the  hulk  dilated  and  vanished, 
As  a  sea-mist  in  the  sun! 

And  the  people  who  saw  this  marvel, 
Each  said  unto  his  friend, 
That  this  was  the  mould  of  their  vessel, 
And  this  her  tragic  end. 

And  the  pastor  of  the  village, 
Gave  thanks  to  God  in  prayer, 
That  to  quiet  their  troubled  spirits, 
He  had  sent  this  Ship  of  Air. 

H.  W.  LONGFELLOW,  1850. 

(With   the    kind   permission    of    Houghton,    Mifflin 
&  Company.) 


THE   SHIP   IN   A   SUMMER   CLOUD.          83 

the  disaster  nearly  put  an  end  to  the  New 
Haven  Colony.  There  was  at  one  time  se- 
rious talk  of  moving  to  Ireland.  And  then 
Oliver  Cromwell,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
English  government,  offered  them  a  place  for 
settlement  in  the  island  of  Jamaica.  But  the 
people  feared  the  plague  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  many  of  them  were  now  too  old  to  again 
undergo  the  hard  labor  of  building  a  colony. 
So  they  gave  up  their  ambitions  of  becoming 
wealthy  traders  and  turned  their  attention  to 
farming.  They  soon  found  that  they  could 
make  a  comfortable  living  in  that  way  and 
were  contented.  But  they  never  forgot  the 
sad  year  of  1646,  and  how  their  happiness 
and  hopes  had  gone  down  in  the  "  Great 
Shippe." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

How  New  Haven  Hid  the  Judges  Who 
Condemned  a  King  to  Death. 

There  is  no  story  of  old  New  Haven  that  is 
more  interesting  or  so  full  of  strange  and 
exciting  adventures  as  the  story  of  the  Regi- 
cides, Edward  Whalley,  William  Goffe,  and 
John  Dixwell.  These  men  were  brave  fight- 
ers in  Oliver  Cromwell's  Puritan  army;  and 
when  it  was  determined  to  try  King  Charles 

I,  of  England,  for  treason,  they  were  made 
judges  of  the  famous  court  which  condemned 
him  to  death.     That  was  in  1649. 

Eleven  years  had  gone  by  since  that  terri- 
ble event.  Cromwell  was  dead  and  Charles 

II,  king  of  England.     All  the  enemies  of  the 
old  king  had  been  pardoned  except  the  judges 
who  had  caused  him  to  be  beheaded.     The 
new  king  wanted  revenge  for  the  death  of 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  85 

his  father,  and  demanded  that  these  judges 
be  punished.  Some  of  them  were  seized  and 
executed,  but  others  ran  away  and  hid. 
Whalley  and  Goffe  knew  what  was  in  store 
for  them,  and  sailed  away  to  New  England 
before  the  new  king  was  crowned.  They 
landed  at  Boston  in  July,  1660.  They  were 
received  with  great  honor  and  treated  with 
much  kindness  by  Governor  Endicott  and 
the  people  of  Massachusetts,  for  they  had 
done  brave  deeds  for  the  Puritan  cause  in 
England.  After  a  short  stay  in  Boston,  they 
went  to  Cambridge,  where  they  lived  very 
quietly,  although  they  did  not  try  to  hide. 
It  was  not  then  known  in  Boston  that  the 
new  king  wanted  to  have  them  arrested  and 
punished. 

There  is  a  good  story  told  of  these  two 
regicides  in  connection  with  their  stay  in 
Massachusetts — a  story  wrhich  shows  that 
they  were  very  skillful  with  their  swords,  and 
knew  how  to  humble  a  silly  boaster  as  well. 
A  stranger  came  along  one  day  and  set  up 
a  little  platform  in  the  street;  mounting  it, 


86  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

he  flourished  a  sword  and  dared  anyone  to 
fight  with  him.  No  one  seemed  willing  to 
try  it.  Finally  one  of  the  regicides,  dressed 
as  a  rough  farmer,  wrapping  a  cheese  in  a 
napkin  for  a  shield,  and  taking  a  mop  which 
he  had  rubbed  in  a  mudpuddle,  mounted  the 
stage  to  meet  the  boasting  swordsman.  The 
fellow,  of  course,  felt  very  much  insulted; 
but  the  first  angry  thrust  of  his  sword  was 
skillfully  caught  and  held  fast  in  the  soft 
cheese,  while  the  dirty  mop  was  wiped  across 
his  red  face.  This  was  repeated  several 
times,  amidst  roars  of  laughter  from  the  by- 
standers. The  man  then  lost  his  temper,  and 
picking  up  his  heavy  broadsword,  threatened 
to  kill  the  judge.  But  he  was  warned  off 
with  such  a  stern  voice  that  he  was  frighten- 
ed, and  declared  that  this  farmer  fighter  must 
be  either  Whalley,  Goffe  or  the  Devil. 

It  was  not  long  before  news  was  brought 
to  Boston  that  the  regicides  were  wanted  in 
England.  Governor  Endicott  and  the  other 
magistrates  debated  what  they  ought  to  do. 
Some  of  them  were  afraid  if  they  did  not  ar- 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  87 

rest  the  judges  and  send  them  back  to  Eng- 
land that  the  new  king  would  be  angry  and 
perhaps  take  away  their  charter.  But  while 
they  were  talking  about  it  Whalley  and  Goffe 
settled  the  question  for  them  by  running 
away. 

Leaving  Massachusetts,  the  two  fugitive 
judges  went  to  Hartford.  Although  they 
were  well  treated  there,  they  decided  to  go 
on  to  New  Haven,  where  they  had  friends. 
Besides,  they  would  be  nearer  Manhattan 
should  they  find  it  necessary  to  leave  the 
English  colonies-  altogether.  They  arrived 
at  New  Haven  in  March,  1661.  Mr.  Daven- 
port and  their  other  friends  at  Quinnipiac 
gave  them  a  hearty  welcome  and  generously 
cared  for  them.  They  did  not  try  to  hide 
for  the  first  few  weeks,  but  mingled  with  the 
people  and  went  to  church.  Saturdays  they 
watched  the  "  train-band  "  practice  and  prob- 
ably took  part  in  the  drill,  showing  the  sol- 
diers how  to  handle  their  guns  and  swords, 
for  they  were  old  fighters  themselves. 

Unfortunately  for  the  two  hunted  judges, 


88  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

their  feeling  of  security  did  not  last  very  long. 
They  could  not  get  out  of  reach  of  the  long 
arm  of  the  revengeful  king  even  in  the  wil- 
derness of  New  England.  One  day  in  the 
latter  part  of  March  a  royal  proclamation  was 
brought  to  New  Haven.  This  proclamation 
ordered  a  search  to  be  made  for  the  regi- 
cides in  all  the  New  England  colonies;  if 
found  they  must  be  arrested  and  sent  to  Eng- 
land. 

The  people  of  New  Haven  had  been  ex- 
pecting this  royal  command  for  some  time 
and  had  been  wondering  what  they  should 
do  when  it  came.  They  wanted  to  obey  the 
king,  but  they  also  wanted  to  save  the  good 
and  brave  judges  from  a  cruel  death.  Their 
good  minister,  Mr.  Davenport,  settled  the 
question  for  them.  He  preached  a  sermon 
from  a  verse  in  the  Bible  which  says,  "  Hide 
•  the  outcasts,  bewray  not  him  that  wander- 
eth."  That  was  God's  command  and  they 
decided  to  obey  God  rather  than  their  king. 
So  when  the  proclamation  came  they  hid 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  89 

the  outcasts,  and  did  not  betray  the  wander- 
ing judges. 

Dressed  as  though  for  a  long  journey, 
Whalley  and  Goffe  appeared  on  the  streets 
of  New  Haven  one  morning  and  then  went  off 
in  the  direction  of  Milford.  People  who  did 
not  know  their  plans,  supposed,  of  course, 
that  they  were  going  to  Manhattan.  But 
during  the  night  they  came  back  very  quietly 
and  hid  in  Mr.  Davenport's  house.  A  month 
later  they  went  across  the  street  and  staid 
with  Mr.  Jones,  whose  father  was  also  a  regi- 
cide. There  they  remained  until  the  king's 
officers  came  in  May,  when  they  escaped  to 
the  woods  north  of  the  town. 

To  understand  how  these  royal  officers 
happened  to  come  to  New  Haven  we  must 
go  back  to  Massachusetts  for  a  moment.  Af- 
ter it  became  known  that  the  regicides  had 
left  Cambridge  and  gone  to  Connecticut,  the 
authorities  in  Massachusetts  ordered  a 
search  made  for  them  in  their  colony.  There 
was  no  reason,  of  course,  why  they  should 
not  make  it  a  thorough  one.  Then,  to  show 


90  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

the  king  how  eager  his  colony  was  to  obey 
his  commands  and  thus  gain  his  favor,  Gov- 
ernor Endicott  appointed  two  young  men  as 
officers  to  visit  the  other  New  England  col- 
onies and  see  if  they  couldn't  discover  and 
capture  the  "  colonels "  as  the  runaway 
judges  were  called.  These  two  young  offi- 
cers were  named  Thomas  Kellond  and  Thom- 
as Kirk.  They  had  just  arrived  from  Eng- 
land and  were  friends  of  the  king.  Of 
course,  Governor  Endicott  could  not  give 
them  power  to  search  houses  in  the  other 
colonies;  he  could  merely  ask  the  other  gov- 
ernors to  grant  the  officers  that  right  and 
urge  them  to  help  in  the  search. 

Kellond  and  Kirk  started  right  off  to  Hart- 
ford to  look  for  Whalley  and  Goffe.  They 
found  Governor  Winthrop  very  polite  and 
quite  willing  to  give  them  assistance.  But 
they  soon  found  out  that  the  men  they  want- 
ed had  gone  to  New  Haven.  So,  without 
further  delay,  the  eager  young  officers  hur- 
ried on  southward.  They  reached  Guilford, 
fifteen  miles  from  New  Haven,  Saturday. 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  9! 

There  they  stopped  to  see  Mr.  Leete  who,  at 
that  time,  was  governor  of  the  New  Haven 
Colony. 

Now  if  Governor  Leete  had  been  as  eager 
to  give  them  aid  as  they  were  anxious  to  re- 
ceive it,  the  two  royal  officers  might  have 
reached  New  Haven  that  night  and  spoilt  all 
the  rest  of  this  story.  But  the  Governor  was 
rather  slow  in  his  way  of  doing  things  and 
on  this  particular  Saturday  he  was  very  slow ; 
at  least  Mr.  Kellond  and  Mr.  Kirk  thought 
so.  He  began  to  read  their  letters  out  loud 
so  that  everybody  in  the  room  where  they 
were  could  hear  him  and  learn  who  the  stran- 
gers were,  and  know  their  errand.  They  in- 
terrupted his  reading,  warned  him  not  to  tell 
such  important  news  to  others,  and  asked  to 
go  into  another  room  by  themselves.  They 
said  afterwards  that  an  Indian  runner  was 
immediately  sent  to  New  Haven  by  those 
who  had  listened,  to  warn  Whalley  and  Goffe. 
Perhaps  Mr.  Leete  didn't  have  his  spectacles 
on  that  day;  at  any  rate  it  took  him  a  very 
long  time  to  read  those  letters  from  the  gov- 


Q2  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ernor  of  Massachusetts.  And  when  he  had 
finished  them,  he  told  the  officers  that  he 
hadn't  seen  the  "  colonels  "  in  nine  weeks 
and  he  thought  they  must  have  left  New  Ha- 
ven. But  they  replied  that  the  regicides  had 
been  seen  there  since  that  time,  and  asked  for 
horses  to  carry  them  farther  on  their  er- 
rand, Their  request  was  finally  granted,  but 
it  was  a  very  long  time  before  the  horses 
were  ready.  To  the  impatient  young  offi- 
cers, it  seemed  as  though  no  one  in  Guilford 
was  in  a  hurry  that  afternoon ! 

While  they  were  waiting  for  their  horses, 
someone  outside  told  them  that  Whalley  and 
Goffe  were  hiding  at  Mr.  Davenport's  house 
and  that  Mr.  Leete  knew  it.  So  they  went 
right  back  to  the  Governor  and  demanded 
military  aid.  This  Mr.  Leete  refused  to 
grant  them  without  the  consent  of  the  other 
magistrates;  but  he  offered  to  give  them  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Gilbert,  who  could  help  them. 
Of  course  they  were  very  glad  to  have  such 
a  letter  and  waited  for  the  Governor  to  write 
it.  It  took  Mr.  Leete  a  long  time  to  find 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  93 

just  the  right  kind  of  paper  for  such  an  im- 
portant matter,  and  then  he  had  to  stop  to 
sharpen  his  old  quill  pen.  By  the  time  the 
letter  was  written,  it  was  too  late  in  the  day 
for  the  officers  to  go  on.  And  as  it  was  Sat- 
urday night,  they  had  to  remain  in  Guilford 
over  Sunday. 

Although  Kellond  and  Kirk  left  Guilford 
bright  and  early  Monday  morning,  a  man 
named  John  Meigs  started  earlier  and  reach- 
ed New  Haven  in  time  to  warn  the  people  of 
their  coming.  After  the  officers  arrived,  they 
had  to  wait  several  hours  for  Mr.  Leete  to 
come  before  a  meeting  of  the  magistrates 
could  be  held.  They  then  demanded  permis- 
sion to  search  the  town,  but  the  Governor 
told  them  that  he  would  not  make  them  mag- 
istrates. They  warned  him  not  to  disobey 
the  king  and  get  the  New  Haven  colony  into 
trouble;  but  Mr.  Leete  still  refused  their  re- 
quest and  went  to  talk  it  over  with  the  mag- 
istrates again.  The  whole  day  was  spent  in 
this  way  and  the  king's  officers  could  get  no 
aid  or  satisfaction. 


Q4  STORIES    OF   OLD    NEW   HAVEN. 

The  magistrates  finally  decided  to  call  a 
meeting  of  the  General  Court  for  the  next 
Friday  to  see  what  could  be  done.  Kellond 
and  Kirk  were  not  willing  to  wait,  however, 
and  remained  in  the  town  only  long  enough 
to  offer  great  rewards  to  any  Indian  or  white 
man  who  would  capture  the  regicides,  and 
then  went  on  to  Manhattan  to  continue  their 
search  in  that  Dutch  colony.  They  could 
find  no  trace  of  either  Whalley  or  Goffe, 
however,  and  returned  to  Boston  by  boat, 
disgusted  with  their  poor  luck,  and  greatly 
.vexed  at  the  people  of  New  Haven. 

Now  let  us  see  what  had  become  of  the 
two  regicides  whom  we  left  at  Mr.  Jones' 
house.  As  soon  as  they  learned  from  the 
Indian  runner  who  arrived  from  Guilford  that 
Saturday  night,  that  royal  officers  were  on 
their  way  to  arrest  them,  Whalley  and  Goffe 
fled  from  their  hiding  place  and  took  refuge 
in  an  old  mill  north  of  the  town.  They  re- 
mained there  over  Sunday;  on  Monday  while 
the  magistrates  were  debating  what  to  do, 
and  the  officers  were  impatiently  waiting  their 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  95 

decision,  Mr.  Jones  and  two  other  friends 
guided  the  fugitives  to  another  hiding  place 
beyond  West  Rock,  near  Woodbridge.  This 
spot  they  called  Hatchet  Harbor,  because 
there  they  found  a  hatchet  with  which  they 
built  a  hut  of  green  boughs.  They  staid 
there  two  nights  and  a  Mr.  Sperry,  who  lived 
not  far  away,  gave  them  food.  Then  they 
went  to  the  top  of  Providence  Hill,  or  what 
is  now  West  Rock,  and  hid  in  that  strange 
pile  of  huge  rocks,  which  has  long  borne  the 
name  of  "  Judges'  Cave."7  They  remained 
at  this  cave  for  a  month  spending  rainy  nights 
at  Mr.  Sperry's  house.  This  friend  kept  them 
supplied  with  food,  sometimes  carrying  it  to 
them  himself,  sometimes  sending  his  little 
boy  to  leave  it  on  a  stump  where  they  could 
find  it.  This  boy  used  to  wonder  what  be- 
came of  the  food  but  his  father  told  him  there 
was  somebody  at  work  in  the  woods  who 
wanted  it. 

While  the  regicides  were  hiding  in  this 
cave  the  General  Court  of  the  New  Haven 
Colony  met  and  voted  to  have  a  thorough 


p5  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

search  made  in  every  town  in  the  colony. 
Men  were  appointed  to  look  through  all 
houses,  barns,  and  sheds;  even  ships  in  the 
harbor  were  searched.  But  no  trace  of  the 
judges  could  be  found. 

In  those  early  days  there  were  many  wild 
beasts  in  the  forests  about  New  Haven  that 
are  rarely  seen  in  the  New  England  woods 
now-a-days.  One  night  as  the  regicides  lay 
in  their  bed  of  leaves  a  panther  stuck  his  head 
into  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  gave  a  terri- 
ble roar.  This  so  frightened  them  that  soon 
after  they  left  the  cave  and  went  to  some  un- 
known hiding  place. 

One  Saturday,  about  a  week  after  their 
adventure  with  the  panther,  hearing  that  their 
friends  might  suffer  for  their  kindness  in  hid- 
ing them,  Whalley  and  Goffe  went  back  to 
New  Haven  and  told  Mr.  Gilbert  that  they 
would  surrender  rather  than  cause  harm  to 
their  friends.  Mr.  Gilbert  wanted  to  talk 
with  the  other  magistrates  about  it  first,  and 
as  the  next  day  was  Sunday,  he  waited  until 
Monday  before  deciding  what  to  do.  Mean- 


JUDGES     CAVE. 


HIDING    THE    REGICIDES.  97 

time  the  judges  were  urged  by  their  friends 
to  flee,  so  on  Monday  they  again  disappeared. 
Several  stories  are  told  of  narrow  escapes 
they  had  at  that  time.  They  were  staying  at 
the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Eyers  when  some  men 
started  out  to  search  for  them.  Mrs.  Eyers 
saw  these  men  coming  and  told  Whalley  and 
Goffe  to  run  out  the  back  door  and  then  come 
right  in  again.  They  did  so  and  when  the 
officers  came  the  woman  told  them  that  the 
judges  had  been  there,  but  had  just  gone  out 
of  the  back  door.  So  the  men  hurried  off 
to  the  woods  back  of  her  house  to  find 
them. 

Then  it  is  said  that  the  two  fugitives  start- 
ed in  the  direction  of  Mill  River,  or  out  what 
is  now  called  State  street.  Before  they  had 
gone  very  far  the  Town  Marshall  caught  up 
with,  and  tried  to  arrest,  them.  They  fought 
so  fiercely  with  their  walking  sticks,  how- 
ever, that  the  officer  had  to  leave  them  and 
go  back  for  aid.  While  he  was  gone  they 
hid  under  what  was  called  Neck  Bridge  near 
Cedar  Hill;  and  when  the  Marshall  came 


98  STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

back  with  his  aids  they  hurried  right  across 
this  bridge,  not  thinking  that  the  men  they 
were  after  lay  under  their  feet.  When  the 
officers  had  got  out  of  sight  Whalley  and 
Goffe  slipped  into  the  woods  again  and  went 
back  to  their  old  hiding  place  in  the  cave  at 
West  Rock. 

It  is  also  related  that  about  this  same  time 
they  went  over  to  Guilford  and  offered  to 
surrender  to  Governor  Leete,  but  they  were 
hidden  in  his  cellar  and  fed  from  his  table. 

The  New  Haven  officers  soon  gave  up  the 
search  for  the  brave  "  colonels  "  and  made  no 
further  effort  to  arrest  them.  In  August  the 
judges  again  left  their  cave  and  went  to  Mil- 
ford,  where  they  lived  hidden  with  a  Mr. 
Tompkins  for  several  years.  For  two  years 
they  did  not  even  go  out  of  the  house  and 
their  presence  was  known  to  only  two  or 
three  persons  in  the  town. 

In  1664  a  new  danger  arose.  Four  royal 
Commissioners  arrived  at  Boston  to  seek  the 
regicides  and  arrest  them.  So  Whalley  and 
Goffe  left  Milford  and  returned  to  their  old 


HIDING   THE    REGICIDES.  9Q 

home  in  the  cave  at  West  Rock.  But  an 
Indian  discovered  the  hiding  place  one  day 
and  reported  it  in  New  Haven.  Then  it  was 
decided  that  they  must  find  some  new  shelter 
farther  away  from  the  colonies,  and  after  a 
long  journey  through  the  forests  they  found 
a  home  with  Reverend  Mr.  Russell  at  Had- 
ley  in  the  western  part  of  Massachusetts. 
They  remained  in  safety  there  until  they  died, 
some  years  later. 

Some  time  after  Whalley  and  Goffe  had 
gone  to  Hadley,  a  stranger  giving  the  name 
of  James  Davids,  came  to  New  Haven  to 
live.  He  was  a  very  quiet  but  wise  looking 
man.  Very  few  knew  anything  of  his  history 
or  that  his  real  name  was  John  Dixwell,  one 
of  the  Regicides.  Where  he  had  hidden  dur- 
ing the  years  since  Charles  II  became  king, 
no  one  knows.  He  went  to  live  in  the  house 
of  Mr.  Ling  on  the  corner  of  College  and 
Grove  streets.  Reverend  Mr.  Pierpont,  who 
was  minister  in  New  Haven  at  that  time, 
knew  him  better  than  anyone  else,  and,  as 
they  were  near  neighbors,  they  often  met  at 


IOO        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

the  fence  which  divided  their  yards  and  had 
long  talks  together.  We  can  guess  that  Mr. 
Dixwell  told  the  good  minister  many  stories 
of  the  old  days  in  England  when  a  king  lost 
his  head.  Mr.  Pierpont's  wife  used  to  won- 
der why  her  husband  talked  so  much  with 
that  strange  old  man;  but  he  merely  replied 
to  her  questioning,  "  He  is  a  very  knowing 
and  learned  man." 

In  1686  that  tyrannical  old  Governor  of 
New  England,  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  spent 
a  Sunday  in  New  Haven  and  saw  Mr.  Dix- 
well at  church.  He  asked  someone  who  that 
noble  looking  man  was  and  was  told  that  he 
was  a  merchant.  "  I  know  that  he  is  not  a 
merchant,"  said  the  Governor.  Someone 
must  have  told  Mr.  Dixwell  of  it,  for  he  was 
not  at  church  in  the  afternoon. 

James  Davids  later  married  the  widow  of 
Mr.  Ling  and  remained  in  New  Haven  until 
his  death.  He  lies  buried  in  the  rear  of  the 
old  Center  Church  on  the  Green,  but  the 
monument  over  his  grave  bears  the  name  of 
"John  Dixwell." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

How  New  Haven  Came  to  Be  in  the 
State  of  Connecticut. 

After  the  English  colonies  in  America  had 
won  their  independence  from  Great  Britain, 
they  established  the  Federal  Union  and  be- 
came the  thirteen  original  States.  The  col- 
ony of  Virginia  became  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia; the  colony  of  Connecticut  became  the 
State  of  Connecticut.  Why  didn't  the  col- 
ony of  New  Haven  become  the  State  of  New 
Haven?  That  is  certainly  an  interesting 
question  and  the  answer  to  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  more  than  a  hundred  years 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
made,  New  Haven  ceased  to  be  a  separate 
colony  and  became  a  part  of  the  colony  of 
Connecticut.  How  did  the  old  colony  of 
Davenport  and  Eaton  come  to  lose  its  in- 


IO2        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

dependence  and  be  joined  to  the  colony  of 
Winthrop  and  Hooker?  The  answer  to  this 
question  forms  an  interesting  story. 

Whenever  companies  of  English  people 
were  formed  to  move  to  America  and  found 
new  colonies,  it  was  customary  for  them  to 
ask  the  King  for  a  charter  to  take  with  them. 
Now  a  charter  was  a  written  document  which 
granted  the  new  colony  certain  rights  and 
privileges.  Some  charters  granted  more  than 
others,  but  usually  they  gave  the  colonists 
the  right  to  govern  themselves  and  make 
their  own  laws;  only,  the  magistrates  and 
laws  of  the  new  colony  must  be  acceptable 
to  the  King  and  approved  by  him.  Then  the 
King  was  always  bound  to  protect  such  a  col- 
ony, and  so  a  charter  was  considered  a  very 
valuable  thing  to  have  and  always  carefully 
guarded. 

When  Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Davenport  came 
to  New  England  with  their  company  to  found 
a  new  colony,  they  brought  no  charter  with 
them.  It  is  quite  certain  that  they  could 
not  have  obtained  one  if  they  had  asked  it, 


AN    OLD    CHARTER. 


UNION    WITH    CONNECTICUT.  103 

for  at  that  time,  instead  of  giving  them  a 
charter,  the  King  more  likely  would  have  put 
Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Davenport  in  prison. 
So  the  New  Haven  Colony  was  founded  with- 
out a  charter  stating  what  kind  of  govern- 
ment it  should  have;  and  its  founders  had  to 
make  a  government  of  their  own.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  the  colony  at  Ouinnipiac 
was  practically  an  independent  state  and  did 
not  even  acknowledge  the  King. 

But  there  soon  came  a  time  when  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Haven  thought  that,  after  all, 
it  would  be  much  better  for  them  if  the)'-  had 
a  charter.  The  reason  was  that  some  of  the 
New  Haven  people  had  attempted  to  estab- 
lish a  trading  station  on  the  Delaware  River 
and  had  got  into  a  quite  serious  quarrel 
with  the  Dutch,  and  the  need  of  protection 
by  mother  England  was  keenly  felt.  Now  it 
so  happened  that  just  at  that  time  the  gov- 
ernment of  England  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Puritans  and  there  was  a  possibility  of  their 
obtaining  a  charter  from  Parliament.  So  in 
November,  1644,  the  General  Court  asked' 


IO4        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Mr.  Gregson  to  go  home  to  England  and  try 
to  get  a  charter  for  the  New  Haven  Colony. 
At  the  same  time,  to  meet  the  necessary  ex- 
pense (it  cost  a  good  deal  of  money  to  pro- 
cure a  charter),  they  voted  to  raise  the  sum 
of  £200  of  which  New  Haven  was  to  pay 
£110  in  good  salable  beaver  skins,  and  the 
other  towns  of  the  colony  the  remaining 
£90.  More  than  a  year  passed  before  this 
sum  could  be  raised  and  the  other  necessary 
preparations  made.  Then  Mr.  Gregson  sail- 
ed for  England  in  that  ill-fated  ship  which, 
laden  with  so  many  precious  lives  and  such  a 
valuable  cargo,  left  New  Haven  in  1646  and 
was  lost  at  sea.  This  loss  was  such  a  serious 
blow  to  the  struggling  little  colony  that, 
for  the  time  being,  at  least,  any  thought  of 
procuring  a  charter  was  out  of  the  question ; 
and  really  the  people  were  so  discouraged 
that,  for  some  time,  few  of  them  cared 
whether  they  ever  had  a  charter  or  not.  Any 
further  attempt  to  secure  one  then,  would 
have  been  in  vain  anyway,  for  England  was  in 
the  midst  of  a  civil  war  and  Parliament  was 


UNION    WITH    CONNECTICUT.  105 

too  busy  fighting  the  King  to  think  of  grant- 
ing New  Haven  a  charter. 

Now  it  happened  that  the  people  who  set- 
tled the  colony  of  Connecticut  in  the  region 
about  Hartford  had  no  charter  either.  They 
did  not  come  direct  from  England,  but  moved 
away  from  Boston  in  1636  because  they  did 
not  quite  like  the  government  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony.  And,  as  it  did  not 
seem  to  be  a  favorable  time  to  procure  a 
charter,  they  established  a  government  of 
their  own,  as  the  New  Haven  people  did  a 
little  later. 

Some  years  before  the  settlement  of  Hart- 
ford, all  the  land  along  the  Connecticut  River 
had  been  granted  to  a  number  of  English 
Lords,  who,  at  one  time,  intended  to  move 
to  New  England  and  settle,  and  even  went 
so  far  as  to  have  a  fort  built  at  Saybrook. 
Later,  these  Puritan  Lords  gave  up  their 
plan  of  moving  to  America,  and  their  right 
to  the  land  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  Mr. 
Fenwick,  who,  in  1644,  sold  it  to  the  colony 
of  Connecticut.  It  was  not  known,  then, 


IO6        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

whether  this  purchase  included  the  territory 
of  Quinnipiac  or  not,  for  the  patent,  or  deed, 
of  the  property  was  in  England.  And  when 
Connecticut  found  out  that  she  had  really 
bought  the  colony  of  New  Haven  from  Mr. 
Fenwick,  she  said  nothing  about  it  and  made 
no  claim  to  it  until  fifteen  years  later.  When, 
in  the  year  1660,  New  Haven  appointed  a 
committee  to  mark  out  the  boundary  line 
between  her  colony  and  Connecticut,  the 
people  of  the  latter  colony  heard  of  it  and 
sent  a  remonstrance  to  New  Haven  and  de- 
clared that  all  the  territory  of  the  New  Ha- 
ven Colony  belonged  to  them.  This  was  a 
great  surprise  to  Mr.  Davenport  and  his 
friends  and,  of  course,  they  would  not  allow 
any  such  claim  to  go  unchallenged.  So  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  consult  with 
Connecticut  about  her  "  pretended  "  right  to 
«  New  Haven. 

Meantime  the  people  of  Connecticut  had 
decided  to  send  their  Governor,  Mr.  Win- 
throp,  to  England  to  procure  a  charter  for 
their  colony.  The  new  King,  Charles  II,  was 


UNION    WITH    CONNECTICUT. 

in  power,  and  some  of  their  old  friends  were 
high  in  authority  in  the  government.  So  it 
seemed  to  be  a  favorable  time  to  obtain  one. 
When  Mr.  Davenport  heard  of  this  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop  warning  him 
not  to  include  New  Haven  in  the  new  char- 
ter. Mr.  Winthrop  replied  that  if  the  new 
charter  should  include  New  Haven,  that  col- 
ony could  join  Connecticut  or  not,  as  it  pleas- 
ed. He  knew,  however,  that  there  were 
some  people  in  the  New  Haven  Colony  who 
would  be  glad  to  join  Connecticut,  for  they 
were  dissatisfied  with  their  own  government. 
Even  their  governor,  Mr.  Leete,  wrote  Mr. 
Winthrop  saying  that  he  hoped  the  charter 
would  include  his  colony,  for  he  feared  that 
the  King  would  punish  them  in  some  way  be- 
cause they  had  hidden  the  regicides.  If  they 
were  joined  to  Connecticut  they  would  prob- 
ably escape  such  punishment. 

With  the  help  of  some  of  the  English  Lords 
who  had  formerly  owned  the  land,  and  by 
presenting  to  the  King  a  valuable  ring  which 
had  once  belonged  to  his  father,  Charles  I, 


IO8        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Governor  Winthrop  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  charter  for  the  colony  of  Connecticut.  It 
was  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  of  the 
charters  granted  to  the  New  England  col- 
onies. It  gave  to  the  people  of  Connecticut 
the  right  to  govern  themselves.  They  could 
elect  their  own  officers  and  make  all  their 
own  laws  without  regard  to  the  King.  That 
explains  why,  in  1688,  when  the  tyrannical 
governor  of  New  England,  Sir  Edmund  An- 
dros,  tried  to  take  it  away,  the  men  of  Hart- 
ford hid  it  in  the  oak  tree,  which  thus  gained 
the  name  Charter  Oak.  Indeed,  so  excel- 
lent was  this  colonial  charter  that  it  was  used 
by  Connecticut  as  a  state  constitution  for 
nearly  thirty  years  after  the  formation  of  the 
Union. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Court  of 
Connecticut  held  in  October,  1662,  the  new 
charter  was  read.  It  was  then  found  that  it 
really  did  include  the  territory  occupied  by 
the  New  Haven  Colony.  A  number  of  per- 
sons from  Guilford,  Stamford  and  Southhold, 
towns  in  the  New  Haven  Colony,  had  heard 


UNION    WITH    CONNECTICUT.  109 

of  this  and  were  present  at  this  meeting.  By 
their  own  request  they  were  at  once  made 
citizens  of  Connecticut,  although  they  still 
owed  allegiance  to  the  New  Haven  Colony. 
And  this  was  done  before  Connecticut  even 
informed  New  Haven  that  the  new  charter 
had  arrived  and  included  its  territory.  But 
a  committee  was  at  once  appointed  to  take  a 
copy  of  the  charter  to  New  Haven,  inform 
the  people  there  of  its  contents,  and  invite 
them  to  join  with  Connecticut. 

When  the  people  of  New  Haven  learned 
that  Connecticut  claimed  their  territory  un- 
der this  new  charter  and  had  actually  taken 
some  of  their  towns  away  from  them  without 
permission,  they  were  very  indignant.  A 
meeting  of  the  New  Haven  Court  was  held 
to  decide  what  should  be  done  about  it.  All 
looked  to  Mr.  Davenport  for  advice.  He  did 
not  hesitate  to  give  it,  for  he  bitterly  opposed 
the  union  with  Connecticut,  and  with  good 
reason.  He  had  labored  long  and  suffered 
much  to  establish  in  the  New  World  a  state 
whose  government  should  be  in  the  hands  of 


HO        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

'church  members  only.  If  they  should  unite 
with  Connecticut  all  his  work  would  be  in 
vain,  and  his  dearest  hopes  disappointed,  for 
in  the  Connecticut  colony  all  free-holders 
could  vote  whether  church  members  or  not. 
At  this  meeting  of  the  New  Haven  Court 
Mr.  Davenport  told  the  people  the  reasons 
why  he  thought  their  colony  was  not  includ- 
ed under  the  Connecticut  charter.  In  the 
first  place  the  new  charter  did  not  contain 
the  name  of  New  Haven,  and  that  colony 
had  always  been  treated  as  a  separate  col- 
ony by  not  only  the  other  New  England  col- 
onies, including  Connecticut,  but  by  the  King 
himself.  If  the  King  had  intended  to  in- 
clude New  Haven  he  would  have  said  so. 
If  Connecticut  had  intended  to  include  New 
Haven,  they  would  have  been  consulted  be- 
fore Mr.  Winthrop  was  sent  to  England. 
The  reply  which  was  sent  to  Connecticut 
contained  some  of  these  reasons  and  declared 
that  an  appeal  would  be  made  to  the  King  to 
learn  the  truth  of  the  matter.  It  also  de- 
manded that  Connecticut  restore  the  towns 


UNION   WITH    CONNECTICUT.  Ill 

that  she  had  so  wrongfully  taken  away  from 
New  Haven  and  wait  until  an  answer  could 
be  had  from  the  King.  Connecticut  made 
no  reply  to  this  letter,  nor  did  she  restore  to 
New  Haven  Colony  the  towns  that  had  been 
received  under  the  new  charter. 

When  Mr.  Winthrop,  who  was  in  England 
still,  heard  that  New  Haven  had  sent  word 
to  friends  there  asking  them  to  learn  from 
the  King  if  he  had  really  intended  to  include 
their  colony  under  the  Connecticut  charter, 
he  persuaded  them  to  wait  until  he  could  re- 
turn to  New  England  and  promised  to  set- 
tle the  dispute  satisfactorily.  At  the  same 
time  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Connecticut  urging 
that  no  injury  be  done  New  Haven,  and,  if 
any  had  been  done,  to  repair  it.  This  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  officers  of  the  Connec- 
ticut colony  but  was  first  sent  to  Governor 
Leete,  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  that  he 
might  read  it.  Governor  Leete  thought  this 
letter  was  a  copy  of  one  sent  to  Connecticut 
and  kept  it.  So  Connecticut  never  received 
it,  and  not  only  continued  to  hold  the  towns 


112        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

belonging  to  the  New  Haven  Colony  but  ap- 
pointed officers  for  them  as  well. 

By  the  time  Mr.  Winthrop  returned  to 
Connecticut  the  quarrel  between  the  two  col- 
onies was  very  bitter.  Connecticut  in- 
sisted that  New  Haven  belonged  to  her  and 
tried  to  persuade  Mr.  Davenport  and  his 
friends  to  unite  peaceably.  New  Haven 
bluntly  refused  to  discuss  the  subject  until 
her  towns  were  restored  to  her,  and  issued  a 
proclamation  calling  upon  all  persons  who 
had  joined  Connecticut  to  pay  their  taxes  to 
the  New  Haven  Colony.  When  this  procla- 
mation was  set  up  at  Stamford,  the  Connec- 
ticut constable  there  tore  it  down.  And 
when  it  was  published  in  Guilford  two  men 
went  to  Hartford  and  asked  to  be  protected 
from  New  Haven.  Several  Connecticut  offi- 
cers returned  to  Guilford  with  them,  and,  ar- 
riving late  at  night,  made  so  much  noise  fir- 
ing off  their  guns,  that  Governor  Leete  was 
frightened  and  sent  to  Branford  and  New 
Haven  for  help.  A  number  of  soldiers  hur- 
ried to  Guilford  to  see  what  the  matter  was. 


UNION    WITH    CONNECTICUT.  113 

But  with  all  the  noise  and  excitement  no  one 
was  hurt.  The  Connecticut  officers  merely 
asked  the  Governor  not  to  collect  taxes  from 
Connecticut  citizens  until*  they  could  come 
to  some  agreement  about  the  charter. 

Another  meeting  of  the  New  Haven  Gen- 
eral Court  was  then  called.  It  was  again 
decided  not  to  treat  with  Connecticut  until 
the  towns  were  restored.  But  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  write  out  and  send  to  Con- 
necticut a  statement  of  their  grievances. 
This  was  called  "  New  Haven's  Case  Stated." 
In  the  meantime  Connecticut  chose  another 
committee  to  visit  New  Haven  and  try  to 
come  to  some  agreement.  They  offered  to 
restore  to  New  Haven  the  towns  they  had 
taken  away  if  New  Haven  would  agree  to 
join  Connecticut.  To  this  New  Haven 
would  not  agree.  Governor  Winthrop  was 
unable  to  settle  the  dispute  for  on  his  re- 
turn from  England  he  gave  up  the  idea  of 
allowing  New  Haven  to  join  Connecticut  or 
not,  as  she  chose,  and  decided  that  New  Ha- 
ven must  come  under  the  new  charter,  any- 


H4        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW     HAVEN. 

way.  Although  more  persons  in  the  New 
Haven  towns  were  coming  to  favor  union 
with  Connecticut,  Mr.  Davenport  and  his 
party  still  controlled  the  colony  and  there 
seemed  no  prospect  of  an  agreement.  More 
than  two  years  had  passed  since  the  charter 
came  and  Connecticut  was  about  to  take 
some  definite  action  to  compel  New  Haven 
to  submit  when  something  very  unexpected 
happened  and  put  a  sudden  end  to  the  dis- 
agreeable quarrel. 

In  March,  1664,  King  Charles  II  made  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  a  present  of 
some  territory  in  America.  This  gift  in- 
cluded northern  New  England,  Long  Island, 
and  all  the  land  from  the  Connecticut  River 
to  Delaware  Bay.  Thus  not  only  was  the 
New  Haven  Colony  given  to  the  Duke  but 
a  part  of  Connecticut  as  well.  The  territory 
of  the  Dutch  was  also  included  and  a  fleet 
sent  to  conquer  it  for  the  English.  With  this 
fleet  came  four  Commissioners  with  power 
to  settle  disputes  and  fix  boundaries  between 
the  colonies. 


UNION    WITH    CONNECTICUT. 

Here  was  a  new  and  alarming  danger  for 
both  New  Haven  and  Connecticut.  The  peo- 
ple in  both  colonies  feared  for  their  liberties, 
for  the  Duke  of  York  was  a  Royalist  and  no 
friend  to  the  Puritans.  Many  of  the  New 
Haven  people  who  had  thus  far  opposed  the 
union  with  Connecticut,  now  favored  it,  for 
they  believed  that  if  the  two  colonies  were 
united  there  would  be  more  chance  of  their 
maintaining  the  new  charter  and  their  rights. 
The  town  of  Milford  soon  voted  to  join  Con- 
necticut and  this  still  more  weakened  New 
Haven.  Guilford  and  Branford  were  the 
only  towns  left  to  her;  and  many  of  the  peo- 
ple in  those  towns  were  beginning  to  favor 
union.  Meantime  the  colony  of  Manhattan 
had  been  conquered  from  the  Dutch,  and  its 
name  changed  to  New  York.  Then  the  Roy- 
al Commissioners  decided  to  give  Long  Is- 
land to  New  York,  and  fixed  the  boundary  be- 
tween New  York  and  Connecticut  where  it 
is  to-day.  This  act  placed  New  Haven  in 
the  Connecticut  colony  and  made  it  neces- 
sary for  her  to  submit.  A  meeting  of  the 


Il6        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN". 

General  Court  was  therefore  held  and  the 
New  Haven  Colony  voted  to  submit  to 
Connecticut  as  soon  as  the  decision  of  the 
Commissioners  was  officially  made  known. 
At  the  same  time  the  people  of  New  Haven 
declared  that  their  action  must  not  be  taken 
as  justifying  the  wrong  which  Connecticut 
had  done  them,  nor  as  a  surrender  of  their 
former  right  and  claim.  Thus  New  Haven 
lost  her  independence  and  became  a  part  of 
Connecticut. 

Most  of  the  people  soon  forgot  the  bitter 
quarrel  and  were  contented  with  their  new 
government.  But  some  were  never  recon- 
ciled. The  people  of  Branford  were  so  dis- 
satisfied that  they  soon  left  their  town,  and, 
under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Pierson,  their 
minister,  moved  to  New  Jersey  and  founded 
the  city  of  Newark.  But  there  was  no  one 
in  old  New  Haven  who  felt  so  keen  a  disap- 
pointment over  the  union  with  Connecticut 
as  Mr.  Davenport.  His  great  ambition  and 
cherished  hopes  were  destroyed  forever.  He 
was  broken-hearted  and  would  not  be  com- 


UNION   WITH    CONNECTICUT.  117 

forted.  In  the  year  1668  he  moved  to  Bos- 
ton where  he  became  the  minister  of  the  old 
First  Church.  Two  years  later  his  disap- 
pointed life  was  ended.  But  the  city  he  left 
in  sorrow,  and  which  owes  so  much  to  him, 
has  never  forgotten,  nor  ceased  to  revere,  his 
name.  And  the  blessings  which  resulted 
from  the  union  he  tried  so  hard  to  prevent, 
have  long  since  buried  in  oblivion  the  wrong 
which  helped  to  bring  it  about. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

How  New  Haven  Came  to  Be  the  Home 
of  Yale  College. 

When  the  Puritan  founders  of  New  Haven 
landed  at  Quinnipiac  in  1638  they  intended 
to  make  their  settlement  not  only  a  busy 
trading  center,  but  a  leading  college  town  as 
well.  Mr.  Davenport,  who  was  a  graduate 
of  Oxford  College,  England,  especially  de- 
sired this  and  looked  forward  with  eagerness 
to  the  time  when  a  college  could  be  set  up 
at  New  Haven.  He  believed  that  schools 
and  colleges  were  necessary  in  a  state 
"  whose  design  is  religion,"  for  intelligent 
and  educated  men  alone  could  make  such  a 
state  strong  and  safe.  Mr.  Eaton  and  the 
other  leaders  in  the  new  settlement  agreed 
with  him;  and,  that  they  might  set  up  a 


SELECTION    OF    YALE'S    HOME.          119 

school  as  soon  as  possible,  they  took  a  school 
teacher  with  them  to  Quinnipiac. 

The  name  of  this  school  teacher  was  Eze- 
kiel  Cheever.  He  came  from  London  and 
was  only  twenty-three  years  old.  As  soon 
as  his  house  was  built  and  he  had  a  place  to 
keep  a  school  he  began  to  teach.  The  old 
town  record  states  what  agreement  was  made 
with  him  and  what  the  purpose  of  the  school 
was  to  be : 

"  For  the  better  training  up  of  youth  in 
this  town,  that  through  God's  blessing  they 
may  be  fitted  for  public  service  hereafter, 
either  in  church  or  commonweal,  it  is  order- 
ed that  a  free  school  be*  set  up,  and  the 
magistrates  with  the  teaching  elders  are  en- 
treated to  consider  what  rules  and  orders  are 
meet  to  be  observed,  and  what  allowance 
may  be  convenient  for  the  schoolmaster's 
care  and  pains,  which  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
town's  stock.  According  to  which  order  20 
pounds  a  year  was  paid  to  Mr.  Ezekiel  Cheev- 
er, the  present  schoolmaster,  for  two  or  three 
years  at  first;  but  that  not  proving  a  com- 


I2O        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

petent  maintenance,  in  August,  1644,  it  was 
enlarged  to  30  pounds  a  year  and  so  con- 
tinueth."  By  a  free  school  they  meant  a 
school  to  which  all  were  free  to  send  their 
children,  but  they  were  to  pay  something  for 
it. 

Only  boys  were  sent  to  school  in  those 
days  for  they  alone  were  to  become  citizens 
and  officers  in  church  or  state.  They  were 
taught  Latin  and  English,  principally,  for 
children  learned  to  read  and  write  at  home 
or  from  private  teachers.  Little  arithmetic 
and  no  geography  or  history  were  taught. 
It  was  expected  that  children  would  learn 
such  things  from  experience  and  by  listen- 
ing to  the  stories  of  strangers,  travellers  or 
sailors.  The  old  record  of  1644  saYs  that 
"  Mr.  Pearc  desired  the  plantation  to  take 
notice  thatt  if  any  will  send  their  children 
to  him,  he  will  instruckt  them  in  writing  or 
arethmatick." 

Mr.  Cheever  was  an  excellent  teacher  for 
those  days.  When  his  scholars  did  not  study 
as  hard  as  he  wished,  he  was  very  apt  to  use 


SELECTION    OF   YALE  S    HOME.          121 

a  rod  on  their  backs.  It  is  said  that  he 
wore  a  long  white  beard  and  when  he  stroked 
it. clear  to  the  end,  it  was  a  sign  for  naughty 
boys  to  look  out.  Although  they  some- 
times forgot  the  Latin  they  always  remem- 
bered the  rod.  Mr.  Cheever  wrote  a  book 
for  the  study  of  Latin  which  was  used  as 
a  school  book  in  New  England  for  a  great 
many  years.  He  taught  in  New  Haven  for 
more  than  ten.  years  and  then  moved  to  Bos- 
ton. He  lived  to  be  ninety-four  years  old 
and  was  a  schoolmaster  for  seventy  years. 

After  Mr.  Cheever's  departure  it  became 
necessary  to  find  another  teacher.  John 
Hanford  was  at  length  secured.  The  town 
voted  "  that  his  work  should  be  to  perfect 
male  children  in  the  English  after  they  can 
read  in  their  Testament  or  Bible,  and  to 
learn  them  to  write,  and  to  bring  them  on 
to  Latin  as  they  are  capable,  and  desire  to 
proceed  therein."  The  town  agreed  to  pay 
for  his  room  and  board,  and  give  him  20 
pounds  besides.  Once  a  year,  in  harvest 
time,  he  could  visit  his  friends.  Mr,  Han- 


122        STORIES   OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ford  did  not  stay  very  long,  however.  His 
health  was  poor  and  he  complained  because 
he  had  to  teach  spelling.  The  school  at 
New  Haven  went  on  in  this  unsatisfactory 
way  for  several  years.  Teachers  did  not  re- 
main very  long  and  few  scholars  cared  to 
study  Latin. 

Mr.  Davenport  did  not  give  up  hope  that 
"  a  small  college  should  be  settled  in  New 
Haven."  Some  land  was  set  apart  for  a  col- 
lege but  the  years  went  by  and  no  college 
was  started.  The  little  town  was  too  poor 
to  support  one.  Although  they  could  not 
have  one  of  their  own,  the  people  of  New 
Haven  were  willing  to  give  something  to  the 
college  in  the  Masssachusetts  Bay  Colony. 
Every  person  "  whose  hart  was  willing  "  gave 
a  peck  of  corn  which  was  sent  to  Boston  for 
the  support  of  poor  scholars  at  Harvard 
College.  This  yearly  gift  was  known  as  the 
"  college  corn." 

In  1657  there  seemed  a  possibility  that 
Mr.  Davenport's  hopes  would  be  fulfilled. 
Mr.  Edward  Hopkins,  who  once  belonged  to 


SELECTION    OF    YALE'S    HOME.          123 

the  New  Haven  company,  out  settled  in 
Hartford  and  became  Governor  of  the  Con- 
necticut colony,  died  in  England.  In  his  will 
hs  left  fourteen  hundred  pounds  and  a 
"  negar  "  [nigger]  for  the  "  breading  up  of 
hopeful  youths  in  New  England  both  at 
Grammar  school  and  college  for  the  public 
service  of  the  country."  Mr.  Davenport 
was  named  as  one  of  the  trustees  who  were 
to  have  charge  of  this  money.  Part  of  the 
gift  was  to  go  to  Hadley,  Massachusetts, 
part  to  Harvard  College,  and  part  to  New 
Haven.  Before  the  money  could  be  obtain- 
ed, however,  Hartford  secured  a  share  of  it. 
What  became  of  the  "  negar  "  isn't  known. 

In  1660  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School 
was  started  in  New  Haven.  Mr.  Jeremiah 
Peck  became  the  first  teacher.  He  taught 
Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew  and  Oratory.  His 
salary  consisted  of  "  30  bushels  of  wheat,  I 
barrel  of  pork,  and  2  barrels  of  beef,  40  bush- 
els of  Indian  corn,  30  bushels  of  pease,  I 
firkin  of  butter,  100  Ibs.  of  flax,  30  bushels  of 
oats."  School  began  at  six  or  seven  o'clock  in 


124        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

the  morning  and  there  were  only  twelve  days 
of  vacation  during  the  year.  The  school  was 
kept  in  the  old  school-house  on  the  mar- 
ket-place and  continued  to  be  held  there  un- 
til 1815.  Seats  were  provided  in  the  church 
for  the  "  schollers  "  and  a  man  was  appointed 
to  keep  order.  This  new  grammar  school 
which  Mr.  Davenport  hoped  to  see  a  col- 
lege some  day,  was  not  very  successful  at 
first.  There  were  so  few  scholars  that  it 
hardly  paid  to  keep  it  open.  In  1668  Mr. 
Davenport  told  the  town  that  unless  they 
sent  more  scholars  to  the  school  he  would 
have  the  money  given  by  Mr.  Hopkins  sent 
where  it  would  do  more  good,  for  the  condi- 
tion of  the  school  was  such  that  the  will  of 
Mr.  Hopkins  was  not  being  carried  out. 
Several  then  promised  to  send  their  sons  to 
study  Latin  and  that  satisfied  Mr.  Daven- 
port. When  he  left  New  Haven,  later,  he 
gave  the  money  to  the  care  of  others  for  the 
benefit  of  the  school.  From  that  day  to  this 
the  Hopkins  Grammar  School  has  been  one 


SELECTION    OF    YALE'S    HOME.          125 

of    the    most    famous    college    preparatory 
schools  in  the  country.8 

Mr.  Davenport  did  not  live  to  "  see  a  col- 
lege set  up  at  New  Haven."  But  the  good 
men  who  followed  him  did  not  forget  his 
ambition  nor  let  his  efforts  toward  that  cher- 
ished object  be  in  vain.  Not  many  years 
after  his  death  the  ministers  in  and  about 
New  Haven  began  to  think  seriously  of  the 
plan  to  start  a  college.  The  Grammar  school 
students  were  compelled  to  go  to  Harvard 
if  they  wished  a  college  education.  Many 
of  them  did  go;  but  it  was  thought  to  be  a 
hardship,  because  it  was  so  far  away  from 
home.  Mr.  Pierpont,  the  minister  at  New 
Haven,  was  interested  in  a  college,  and  had 
energy  enough  to  take  the  lead  in  the  mat- 
ter. In  the  year  1700  ten  ministers  were 
selected  to  act  as  trustees  of  the  proposed 
college.  They  held  a  meeting  at  the  home 
of  Reverend  Mr.  Russell  in  Branford  and 
there  founded  what  later  came  to  be  called 
Yale  College.  Each  minister  gave  some 
books  saying,  "  I  give  these  books  for  found- 


126         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    MAVEX. 

ing  a  college  in  Connecticut."  About  forty 
books  were  collected  in  this  way. 

The  colonial  Assembly  which  met  at  New 
Haven  in  1701  gave  these  trustees  a  charter 
for  the  new  college.  This  charter  did  not 
call  it  a  college,  however.  It  gave  it  the 
name  "  collegiate  school."  It  was  said  that 
it  was  given  "  so  low  a  name  "  that  it  "  might 
the  better  stand  in  wind  and  weather."  That 
meant  that  the  King  might  interfere  with  the 
enterprise  if  he  learned  that  a  colonial  assem- 
bly had  given  a  charter  to  a  college.  That 
was  a  right  which  belonged  to  him. 

In  November,  1701,  the  trustees  met  at 
Saybrook  and  decided  to  locate  the  college 
there.  It  was  much  easier  to  travel  by  wa- 
ter than  by  land  in  New  England  in  those 
early  days,  and  Saybrook  could  be  reached 
from  both  Hartford  and  New  Haven  in  that 
way.  Then  the  first  president  (or  Rector, 
as  he  was  called  in  those  days)  was  Rev- 
erend Andrew  Pierson,  the  minister  at  Kil- 
lingworth,  (now  Clinton)  Connecticut,  and 
that  was  near  Saybrook.  Jacob  Hemingway 


SELECTION    OF    YALE'S    HOME.          I2/ 

of  Xe\v  Haven  was  the  first  student  and  he 
was  taught  by  Mr.  Pierson  at  Killingworth. 
Soon  other  students  attended  the  college  and 
tutors  were  appointed  to  assist  in  teaching. 
The  commencements  were  held  at  Saybrook 
each  year. 

In  1707  Mr.  Pierson  died  and  Reverend 
Samuel  Andrew  of  Milford  became  Rector. 
The  senior  class  went  to  Milford  to  study 
under  his  direction  while  the  rest  of  the  stu- 
dents remained  at  Saybrook  in  charge  of  the 
tutors.  The  little  college  struggled  along  in 
that  way  for  several  years.  Not  many  stu- 
dents entered  and  few  were  graduated,  for 
England  and  France  were  at  war  and  the 
New  England  colonies  were  sending  men 
and  spending  money  to  defend  themselves 
from  the  Canadians.  Besides,  the  students 
did  not  like  to  stay  in  Saybrook  very  well, 
as  there  were  few  people  in  the  town  and 
their  life  was  very  dull.  Then,  too,  they 
complained  of  the  tutors  because  they  were 
poor  teachers.  These  complaints  became  so 
numerous  that  the  trustees  finally  voted  to 


128         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

allow  the  students  to  study  in  other  places. 
So  in  1716  some  went  to  Guilford  and  others 
to  Wethersfield. 

Of  course  the  college  could  not  go  on  very 
long,  split  up  in  that  way,  and  its  friends 
saw  that  it  must  have  a  suitable  home  some- 
where if  it  was  to  succeed.  Several  towns 
wanted  it,  but  New  Haven  and  Hartford 
were  especially  anxious  to  secure  it.  Just 
as  soon  as  some  of  the  students  went  to 
Wethersfield,  the  people  of  Hartford  asked 
the  Colonial  Assembly  to  move  the  college 
to  their  town.  They  declared  Hartford  was 
the  best  place  for  it,  because  it  was  nearer 
the  center  of  the  colony  and  most  of  the 
students  were  already  near  there.  Unfor- 
tunately for  Hartford  most  of  the  trustees  of 
the  college  lived  near  New  Haven  and  were 
determined  to  locate  the  school  there.  In 
1716  they  voted  to  do  this,  and  ordered  the 
students  to  meet  at  New  Haven  the  next 
year.  The  Wethersfield  students  refused  to 
go  and  much  excitement  and  bad  feeling  re- 
sulted. Meantime  the  trustees  began  the 


SELECTION    OF   YALE'S    HOME.          129 

erection  of  a  college  building  at  New  Haven 
and  held  the  first  commencement  there  in 
1717. 

Hartford  would  not  accept  the  decision  of 
the  trustees  and  again  appealed  to  the  As- 
sembly. The  lower  house  of  the  Assembly 
then  voted  to  remove  the  college  to  Middle- 
town,  but  the  Senate,  under  the  lead  of  Gov- 
ernor Saltonstall,  would  not  agree  to  it. 
After  a  long  debate  the  Assembly  decided 
that  the  trustees  had  the  right  to  locate  the 
college  where  they  pleased  and  that  settled 
the  question.  To  comfort  Hartford  the  As- 
sembly voted  to  build  a  State  House  there. 

The  reasons  which  the  trustees  gave  for 
choosing  New  Haven  as  the  home  of  the  col- 
lege were  these :  The  air  and  soil  were 
agreeable;  it  would  be  cheaper  for  the  stu- 
dents to  live  there;  and  more  money  was 
given  to  the  college  by  the  people  of  New 
Haven.  The  town  gave  eight  acres  of  land 
and  various  persons  gave  forty  acres  more. 
These  reasons  did  not  satisfy  either  the  stu- 
dents at  Wethersfield  or  the  people  of  Say- 


130         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

brook.  When  an  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
move the  library  from  the  latter  town  there 
was  trouble.  The  Sheriff  was  finally  sent 
with  some  officers  and  the  books  removed  to 
New  Haven  by  force.  The  wheels  of  the 
carts  on  which  they  were  loaded  were  taken 
off,  bridges  were  broken  down  on  the  road, 
and  many  of  the  books  were  torn  or  lost. 

The  students  at  Wethersfield  who  refused 
to  go  to  New  Haven,  set  up  a  rival  college 
and  held  a  commencement  of  their  own. 
Reverend  Elisha  Williams,  who  sought  to 
have  the  college  located  at  Hartford,  gave 
the  degrees.  When  the  Assembly  ordered 
these  students  to  go  to  New  Haven,  how- 
ever, they  unwillingly  obeyed.  They  made 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  for  the  college  and 
were  called  a  "  very  vicious  and  turbulent 
set  of  fellows."  In  1726  the  bad  feeling  was 
put  at  an  end  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Wil-  ' 
liams  as  Rector.  He  was  a  very  popular 
man  and  the  college  prospered  under  his 
direction. 

For  more  than  fifteen  years  this  college 


SELECTION   OF   YALE  S    HOME.  13! 

which  had  wandered  about  from  pillar  to 
post  and  at  times  had  seemed  more  dead 
than  alive,  had  no  other  name  than  that  of 
"  collegiate  school "  given  by  the  charter. 
It  was  now  old  enough  to  have  a  better  name 
and  obtained  one.  This  is  how  it  happened : 
Mr.  Jeremiah  Dummer,  who  was  the  agent 
of  the  Connecticut  colony  in  England,  was 
much  interested  in  the  college  and  told  his 
friends  about  it,  asking  them  to  give  books 
for  the  library.  More  than  eight  hundred 
volumes  were  collected  in  this  way.  Among 
those  who  became  interested  through  Mr. 
Dummer's  efforts,  was  Elihu  Yale,  the  son 
of  David  Yale  who  had  landed  at  Quinnipiac 
with  Theophilus  Eaton  in  1638.  Soon  after 
the  settlement  of  the  town  Mr.  Yale  moved 
to  Boston  where  probably  Elihu  was  born. 
Later  the  family  went  back  to  England. 
When  he  became  a  young  man  Elihu  was 
sent  to  the  East  Indies  where  in  time  he 
became  the  Governor  of  Madras.  When  he 
returned  to  England  he  was  a  very  rich  man. 
In  his  boyhood  he  had  often  heard  his  father 
tell  the  story  of  the  voyage  to  New  England 


132         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

and  the  landing  at  Quinnipiac  and  now  he 
thought  it  would  be  a  very  nice  thing  for  him 
to  make  the  college  there  a  present.  So  in 
1717  he  sent  some  books,  a  fine  picture  of  the 
King  of  England  and  a  quantity  of  East  In- 
dia goods  which  were  to  be  sold  in  Boston 
and  the  money  given  to  the  college.  The 
sum  received  for  these  goods  amounted  to 
more  than  five  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  and 
was  a  very  welcome  gift,  for  it  enabled  the 
trustees  to  finish  the  college  building.  This 
building  was  three  stories  high  and  painted 
blue.  At  the  Commencement  of  1718  it  was 
dedicated.  There  was  great  rejoicing,  and, 
in  honor  of  Mr.  Yale,  it  was  named  Yale  Col- 
lege. Far  greater  sums  have  often  been  giv- 
en to  the  college  since  then  but  none  has 
been  more  timely  or  welcome  than  the  gift 
of  Elihu  Yale.  It  gave  new  life  and  hope  to 
all  who  had  labored  so  patiently  for  its  suc- 
cess, and  started  it  on  that  career  which  has 
made  the  name  of  Yale  honored  around  the 
world.  Thus  was  fulfilled  the  earnest  wish 
of  John  Davenport  that  a  college  might  be 
set  up  at  New  Haven.8 


CHAPTER  IX. 

How  the  Market-Place  Became  the  Green 
and  the  Many  Changes  It  Has  Seen. 

No  spot  in  old  New  Haven  has  been  so 
closely  connected  with  its  life  and  history  as 
the  beautiful  and  widely  famed  Green.  For 
more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  it  has 
been  the  silent  witness  of  events  both  great 
and  small  and  scenes  both  joyous  and  sad. 
Ever  since  the  founders  of  the  town  set  it 
apart  for  the  common  use  of  all  the  people, 
it  has  been  the  heart  of  New  Haven,  contin- 
ually throbbing  with  the  life-blood  of  religion 
and  patriotism.  From  the  wildness  of  a 
swampy  forest,  with  its  tangled  underbrush 
occasionally  trodden  by  a  wandering  Indian, 
it  has  become  the  smooth  and  shaded  park, 
daily  crossed  by  busy  thousands  whose  pious 
ancestors  long  ago  displaced  the  stealthy 


134 


STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 


redmen.  Hiding  in  its  grassy  bosom  the 
bones  of  many  hundreds  whose  living  feet 
trod  its  surface  in  the  days  gone  by,  it  holds 
in  its  shaded  lap  the  three  old  churches  whose 
sentinel  towers  have  long  watched  over  the 
good  of  the  people  and  which  still  remain  the 
faith  and  hope  of  the  future. 

The  story  of  how  the  founders  of  New  Ha- 
ven laid  out  their  town  four-square,  divided 
it  into  quarters,  and  then  reserved  the  central 
quarter  for  a  market-place,  has  already  been 
told.  Mr.  Eaton  and  his  associates  were  very 
ambitious  to  build  up  a  successful  trading 
town.  It  was  expected  that  whenever  a 
ship  anchored  in  the  harbor  its  cargo  would 
be  taken  to  the  market-place  and  offered  for 
sale ;  or,  if  any  one  in  the  town  had  anything 
to  sell,  he  would  take  it  there.  Auctions, 
sheriff's  sales  and  fairs  were  to  be  held  there. 
It  was  to  be  the  business  center  of  the  town. 
Strangely  enough  it  was  never  much  used  for 
such  purposes.  The  longed-for  trading  ves- 
sels with  rich  cargoes  failed  to  enter  the  har- 
bor. The  fairs  which  were  held  twice  a  vear 


THE    GREEN    AND    ITS    CHANGES. 


00 


for  a  few  years  did  not  prove  successful.  The 
people  themselves  had  little  to  sell  and  that 
little  was  lost  at  Delaware  and  in  the  "  Great 
Shippe  "  of  1646.  Most  of  the  settlers  had 
their  own  gardens  and  raised  their  own  vege- 
tables, so  there  was  little  need  of  a  market- 
place on  that  account. 

The  other  uses  for  which  this  plot  of 
ground  was  set  apart  have  been  more  valuable 
and  popular.  The  founders  built  their  first 
church  there,  and  as  a  religious  center  it  has 
ever  since  been  prominent.  For  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  it  contained  the 
only  burial  place  in  the  town.  For  many  years 
criminals  were  punished  in  the  market-place. 
Puritan  children  went  to  school  there  in  the 
early  days.  For  nearly  two  hundred  years 
it  served  as  a  pasture  for  cattle.  Its  use  for 
such  purposes  has  long  been  given  up.  To- 
day it  is  a  public  park  and  a  place  for  public 
gatherings,  religious,  political  and  military. 

This  historic  open  space  in  the  center  of 
New  Haven  long  known  as  the  Green,  con- 
tains a  little  over  sixteen  acres  of  ground. 


STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

It  is  one-sixth  of  a  mile  long  but  not  quite 
square,  for  the  young  Puritan  surveyor,  John 
Brockett,  found  it  a  difficult  task  to  mark 
out  the  nine  quarters  in  the  woods  and  un- 
derbrush. It  is  remarkable  that  he  succeed- 
ed as  well  as  he  did.  Of  course  it  was  a 
very  different  looking  place  in  1638  from 
what  it  is  now.  It  was  an  uneven  wooded 
slope  full  of  tangled  bushes  and  briers.  On 
its  lower  side,  near  the  corner  of  Church  and 
Chapel  streets,  it  contained  a  swamp.  From 
this  swamp  a  small  brook  ran  south  and  emp- 
tied into  the  East  Creek  near  Wooster  street. 
Bordering  it,  and.  overhanging  its  shallow 
pools,  were  alder  bushes  and  willows  from 
which  the  Indians  made  their  arrows.  There 
the  noise  of  lazy  turtles  and  the  croaking  of 
big  mouthed  frogs  could  be  heard  on  early 
spring  evenings.  Now,  stranger  noises  fill 
the  place.  Swift  moving  trolleys  sound  their 
clanging  gongs  and  deep  toned  bells  ring  out 
the  passing  hours. 

As  soon  as  possible  the  settlers  began  the 
work  of  clearing  up  the  market-place.     The 


THE    GREEN    AND    ITS    CHANGES.        137 

trees  were  cut  down  and  the  timber  used  for 
building1  and  fire-wood.  One  of  the  first 
things  set  up  in  the  clearing  was  a  whipping- 
post. Then  some  stocks  were  built  and 
placed  there.  So,  one  of  the  earliest  uses  of 
the  market-place  was  for  punishment.  In 
1639,  the  year  after  their  landing,  the  foun- 
ders built  their  first  church.  This  was  a  rude 
box-like  building  fifty  feet  square.  It  stood 
in  the  center  of  the  market-place,  thus  signi- 
fying that  religion  was  to  be  the  central  pur- 
pose in  all  their  undertakings.  On  the  roof 
of  this  building  was  a  small  tower  where  the 
town  drummer  "  drummed  "  the  people  to 
meeting.  As  the  wood  of  which  this  church 
was  built  was  unseasoned,  the  roof  soon  be- 
gan to  leak  and  the  sides  bulged  out.  The 
carpenters  had  to  repair  it  and  brace  up  the 
walls.  But  in  this  rickety  old  barn-like 
church  the  Puritan  founders  of  New  Haven 
worshipped  God  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
summer  and  winter. 

For  the  use  of  the  soldiers  who  kept  watch 
at  night,  a  small  watch-house  was  built  on 


138        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

the  upper  side  of  the  market-place.  This 
served  as  a  prison,  also,  until  a  separate  build- 
ing was  erected  for  that  purpose  near  by. 
Soon  after  that  a  school-house  was  built. 
This  stood  where  the  United  Church  is  now. 
Twenty-five  years  after  the  settlement  of  the 
town  the  surface  of  this  plot  was  still  very 
rough  and  covered  with  stumps  and  stones. 
Grass  had  commenced  to  grow  in  some 
places,  but  people  were  in  the  habit  of  dig- 
ging it  up  and  planting  it  in  their  own  yards. 
Leading  up  to  the  church  were  the  narrow 
paths  which  had  been  worn  by  the  Puritan 
church-goers  and  back  of  it  were  the  graves 
of  those  who  had  died  since  the  founding  of 
the  town. 

In  1670  the  old  leaky-roofed  meeting- 
house was  sold  and  a  new  one  containing  a 
belfry,  was  built.  A  few  years  later  a  vessel 
came  into  the  harbor  having  a  bell  on  board. 
This  bell  was  taken  ashore  and,  after  a  short 
trial,  was  purchased  by  the  town.  It  was 
hung  in  the  new  church  belfry  and  was  rung 
for  meetings  and  at  nine  o'clock  every  night. 


THE    GREEN    AND    ITS    CHANGES.        139 

It  took  the  place  of  the  drum  which  had  been 
used  for  such  purposes  since  1638.  In  1699 
this  second  meeting-house  was  found  to  be 
too  small  and  an  addition  was  made  on  one 
side  of  it  and  the  windows  enlarged.  At  the 
same  time  an  effort  was  made  to  improve  the 
looks  of  the  market-place.  They  tried  to 
uproot  the  barberry  bushes,  "  sorrill,"  and 
"  poysonous  stinking  weeds  that  infest  our 
Market-place." 

In  1719  a  county  house  and  a  State  House 
were  erected  on  the  market-place,  for  New 
Haven  had  become  one  of  the  capitals  of  the 
colony  of  Connecticut.  Four  years  later  a 
new  school-house  was  built.  At  that  time 
children  going  to  school  could  see  pigs  and 
cows  and  horses  roaming  over  the  rough 
ground  and  cattle  continued  to  be  pastured 
there  until  1827.  Geese  could  frequently  be 
seen  wandering  about  the  marshy  places  and 
were  continually  a  cause  of  complaint.  Deep 
ruts  made  by  heavy  carts  ran  in  various  di- 
rections, for  people  drove  across  the  square 
at  will. 


I4O         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

As  time  went  on  the  appearance  of  the 
market-place  improved.  About  1750  people 
began  to  call  it  the  Green.  Better  buildings 
took  the  place  of  the  old  and  dilapidated 
structures.  In  1756  a  brick  meeting  house 
was  erected.  This  stood  just  in  front  of  the 
present  Center  Church.  At  the  same  time 
a  board  fence  was  built  around  the  graveyard 
and  painted  red.  In  1760  some  elm  and  but- 
tonwood  trees  were  set  out.  One  of  the  lat- 
ter is  still  standing  near  the  corner  of  Elm 
and  College  streets.  In  1759  a  new  court 
house  was  built.  It  stood  near  the  present 
Trinity  Church.  Ten  years  later  another 
meeting  house  was  built  where  the  United 
Church  is  now.  This  made  the  second 
church  building  on  the  Green.  It  was  built 
of  wood  and  painted  white. 

In  1774  a  liberty  pole  was  set  up.  Thus 
the  Green  became  the  center  of  patriotic  in- 
terest during  the  long  and  trying  years  of  the 
Revolution.  There  Benedict  Arnold  drew 
up  his  little  company  and  demanded  the  keys 
of  the  powder  house,  when  the  news  of  the 


THE    GREEN    AND    ITS    CHANGES.        14! 

battle  of  Lexington  came.  There  General 
Washington  reviewed  the  patriotic  company 
of  Yale  students  on  his  way  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  Continental  Army  at  Cambridge. 
There  the  soldiers  drilled  before  marching  off 
to  war.  There,  too,  the  British  soldiers  rest- 
ed after  their  long  march  from  West  Haven 
on  that  hot  July  day  in  1779.  Surely  those 
were  exciting  days  for  the  old  Green! 

After  the  Revolutionary  War  was  over  and 
independence  had  been  won,  New  Haven  be- 
came a  city.  That  was  in  1784.  Roger 
Sherman,  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, was  the  first  mayor.  The 
streets  were  given  names  and  people  began 
to  take  more  pride  in  the  appearance  of  the 
Green.10  The  old  county  house  and  jail  were 
taken  down  and  the  ground  where  they  stood 
leveled  off.  Then  under  the  leadership  of 
Mr.  James  Hillhouse,11  one  of  the  most  public 
spirited  citizens  the  city  ever  had,  was  be- 
gun those  great  improvements  which  have 
made  New  Haven  famous  as  the  "  City  of 
Elms  "  the  world  over.12 


142         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Mr.  Hillhouse  loved  the  beauty  and  grace- 
fulness of  elm  trees  and  knew  the  comfort  of 
their  shade.  On  his  farm  in  Meriden  were 
a  great  many  young  elm  trees.  Digging 
them  up  and  bringing  them  to  New  Haven 
he  planted  them  about  the  Green  and  along 
the  streets  of  the  city.  He  performed  much 
of  the  labor  himself.  Willing  boys  held  the 
trees  while  he  shoveled  in  the  dirt.  Rever- 
end David  Austin  worked  with  Mr.  Hill- 
house  to  adorn  the  city  with  trees.  He  plant- 
ed the  inner  rows  of  elms  on  the  lower  side 
of  the  Green.  The  most  noted  of  the  elms 
about  the  Green  is  the  one  which  stands  on 
the  corner  of  Church  and  Chapel  streets. 
A  queer  fellow  named  Jerry  Allen  brought  it 
on  his  back  from  Hamden  and  sold  it  to 
Mr.  Thaddeus  Beecher  for  a  pint  of  rum  and 
a  few  trinkets.  It  is  known  as  the  Franklin 
Elm,  for  it  was  set  out  on  the  day  that  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  died,  April  17,  1790.  A 
mere  sapling  when  planted,  it  has  grown  to 
be  a  large  and  handsome  tree,  while  its  roots 
fill  the  bed  of  the  little  stream  which  once 


THE    GREEN    AND    ITS    CHANGES.        143 

flowed  out  of  that  corner  of  the  Green. 
Long  may  it  stand  to  shade  the  busiest  cor- 
ner of  the  old  market-place!13 

After  1790  the  Green  saw  many  changes. 
Geese  had  never  ceased  to  be  a  nuisance  and 
a  law  was  passed  to  keep  them  away.  "  No 
goose  or  gander  shall  be  allowed  to  go  at 
large  within  the  limits  of  New  Haven  town 
unless  such  goose  or  gander  be  well  yoked 
with  yoke  twelve  inches  long  under  penalty 
of  impounding  (taking  and  shutting  up)  such 
goose  or  gander."  The  owner,  to  free  his 
goose,  had  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  cents.  This, 
it  was  hoped,  would  keep  them  off  the  Green. 
In  1798  the  market-house  which  had  stood 
for  some  years  near  the  southeast  corner, 
was  taken  down.  Although  the  town  was 
too  poor  to  spend  money  for  improvements 
during  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, Mr.  Hillhouse,  Mr.  Austin  and  Mr. 
Isaac  Beers  obtained  permission  to  level  and 
fence  in  the  Green  at  their  own  expense. 
Protected  by  the  wooden  fence  which  was 
then  built,  the  grass  grew  plentifully  and  was 


144         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

cut  and  sold  each  year.  The  money  thus  ob- 
tained was  used  to  pay  for  the  improve- 
ments. In  1846  the  present  iron  fence  took 
the  place  of  the  wooden  one  which  was  sold 
to  the  town  of  Milford  and  placed  around  the 
Milford  green. 

The  three  churches  now  standing  on  the 
Green  were  all  built  in  the  year  1814.  Mr. 
Ithiel  Towne  was  the  architect  of  Trinity  and 
Center  churches.  The  latter  is  modelled  af- 
ter an  old  church  in  London.  At  the  time 
these  churches  were  being  erected  the  United 
States  was  at  war  with  Great  Britain.  There 
is  an  interesting  story  that  a  vessel  loaded 
with  lumber  for  Trinity  Church  was  captured 
by  a  British  war-ship  while  on  its  voyage  to 
New  Haven.  When  the  British  captain 
learned  what  use  was  to  be  made  of  the  lum- 
ber he  permitted  the  vessel  to  continue  on  her 
voyage  unmolested.  In  1821  a  Methodist 
church  was  erected  on  the  Green  near  the 
corner  of  Elm  and  College  streets.  When  it 
was  nearly  completed  a  severe  wind  storm 
blew  the  roof  off  and  wrecked  the  building. 


THE    GREEN    AND    ITS    CHANGES.        145 

It  was  immediately  rebuilt  and  stood  until 
1848. 

By  the  time  New  Haven  had  grown  large 
enough  to  be  a  city  the  old  graveyard  had 
become  very  crowded.  Until  1796  it  was  the 
only  burial  place  in  the  town.  In  1794  New 
Haven  was  visited  by  an  epidemic  of  yellow 
fever  and  scores  of  persons  died.  All  were 
buried  silently  and  at  night  on  the  Green. 
This  led  people  to  see  the  need  of  another 
place  for  a  burial  ground.  Mr.  Hillhouse 
was  the  first  to  move  in  the  matter.  A  plot 
of  ground  beyond  Grove  street  was  purchas- 
ed and  arranged  for  a  burial  ground.14 
Since  then  the  graveyard  on  the  Green  has 
almost  entirely  disappeared.  The  present 
Center  Church  was  erected  over  a  portion  of 
it  and  the  monuments  of  noted  men  and  wom- 
en of  old  New  Haven  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
crypt  beneath  this  meeting  house.15  Several 
old  gravestones  still  remain  near  the  Dixwell 
monument  back  of  the  church.  The  rest 
were  removed  to  the  Grove  Street  Cemetery 
many  years  ago.  Thus  while  all  traces  of  the 


146         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

graves  have  been  removed  from  the  surface 
of  the  Green,  hidden  under  its  turf  are  the 
bones  of  over  five  thousand  men,  women,  and 
children. 

In  1829  a  marble  State  House  was  built 
on  the  upper  Green.  It  was  built  in  the  style 
of  a  Greek  temple.  For  many  years  it  was 
the  center  of  activity  for  old  and  young. 
The  steep  bank  at  one  end  made  a  favorite 
coasting  place  in  winter  and  many  who  are 
still  young  can  remember  bumping  down  the 
icy  marble  steps  in  the  anxious  effort  to  make 
their  sleds  go  a  little  farther  toward  Temple 
street,  while  their  sisters  and  other  boys' 
sisters  looked  on  with  mingled  admiration 
and  terror.  The  steps  at  the  other  end  of  the 
building  served  as  a  favorite  lounging  place 
and  were  often  used  as  a  platform  by  orators. 
Much  to  the  sorrow  of  many  of  the  citizens 
of  the  town,  the  handsome  old  ruin  was  taken 
down  in  1889.  The  tender  little  "  Consti- 
tutional Oak  "  planted  on  Arbor  Day,  1902, 
alone  marks  the  site  of  the  old  State  House. 

Among  the  pleasant  associations  connect- 


THE    GREEX    AND    ITS    CHANGES.          147 

ed  with  the  historic  Green  are  the  visits  of 
famous  men  to  New  Haven.  The  old  Green 
has  been  honored  by  the  presence  of  many 
presidents,  generals,  governors  and  states- 
men. In  1798  George  Washington  again 
visited  New  Haven  as  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  attended  church  on  the 
Green.  In  1817  President  James  Monroe 
was  there.  President  Andrew  Jackson  spent 
Sunday  there  in  1833  and  was  received  with 
great  honor  at  the  State  House.  In  1824 
General  Lafayette  reviewed  the  militia  on  the 
Green.  Louis  Kossuth,  the  Hungarian  pa- 
triot, was  honored  there.  James  Madison, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Martin  VanBuren, 
James  K.  Polk,  James  Buchanan,  Ulyses  S. 
Grant,  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  and  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  all  Presidents  of  the  United 
States,  have  walked  under  the  shade  of  its 
beautiful  elms. 

Truly  the  old  market-place  is  full  of  his- 
toric memories  and  fine  traditions.  Those 
ancient  elms  could  tell  wonderful  stories  of 
the  past.  The  roar  of  cannon  over  its  sur- 


148        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW   HAVEN. 

face,  the  rattle  of  musketry  among  its  trees, 
and  the  shouts  of  multitudes  call  to  mind  its 
service  for  independence  and  freedom.  The 
songs  of  Christian  children  and  the  silence 
and  sadness  of  throngs  gathered  to  honor  and 
mourn  the  nation's  dead  testify  to  the  good 
influences  which  have  come  from  it.  The 
old  Green  stands  for  great  deeds  and  great 
principles.  It  stands  for  God  and  truth  and 
right.  It  stands  for  justice  and  law  and  or- 
der. Long  and  wide  may  its  influence 
spread ! 


How  New  Haven  Celebrated  the  Fourth 
of  July  in  the  Year  1779. 

New  Haven  has  good  reason  to  remember 
the  Revolutionary  War.  One  of  her  wisest 
and  most  honored  citizens,  Roger  Sherman, 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
One  of  her  bravest  soldiers,  David  Wooster,1* 
gave  his  life  in  defence  of  his  native  state. 
One  of  the  manliest  students  in  her  famous 
college,  Nathan  Hale,  regretted  that  he  had 
but  one  life  to  give  for  his  country.  And 
that  ambitious  young  patriot,  who  later, 
turned  traitor  to  his  country,  Benedict  Ar- 
nold,17 began  the  honorable  part  of  his  mili- 
tary career  in  New  Haven.  But  there  is  still 
another  reason  why  New  Haven  remembers 
the  days  that  tried  men's  souls.  It  was  the 
way  she  celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July,  1779. 


150         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEX. 

New  Haven  had  shown  a  strong  spirit  of 
patriotism  from  the  very  beginning  of  the 
war.  When  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington came  in  April,  1776,  Benedict  Arnold, 
who  lived  in  New  Haven  then,  and  was  Cap- 
tain of  the  Governor's  Foot  Guards,  called 
out  his  company  and  proposed  to  march  at 
once  to  Cambridge.  Forty  of  the  men 
agreed  to  go,  and  Arnold  asked  the  town 
officers  to  give  them  powder.  Upon  their 
refusal  he  drew  up  his  company  before  them 
and  demanded  the  keys  of  the  powder-house, 
threatening  to  break  open  the  doors  and  help 
himself  if  they  refused  again.  The  keys  were 
delivered  at  once.  Upon  reaching  Cam- 
bridge the  little  company  was  found  to  be  the 
best  armed  and  the  best  uniformed  of  all  the 
American  troops  there. 

Soon  after  Arnold's  company  marched 
away,  General  Washington  stopped  at  New 
Haven  on  his  way  to  Cambridge.  With 
him  were  General  Lee  and  General  Mifflin. 
They  spent  the  night  at  Mr.  Beers'  tavern 
which  stood  where  the  New  Haven  House  is 


PATRIOTISM    IN    1779-  15! 

now.  These  distinguished  officers  were  es- 
corted out  of  town  the  next  morning  by  a 
company  of  Yale  students  who  had  drilled 
before  the  Commander-in-Chief  and  had 
been  praised  by  him. 

Before  many  months  passed  New  Haven 
set  up  a  beacon  on  the  east  side  of  the  har- 
bor on  what  is  now  Beacon  Hill  in  Fort 
Wooster  Park.  This  was  a  signal  fire  and 
whenever  it  was  necessary  to  give  an  alarm 
of  danger  it  was  lighted  and  could  be  seen 
by  the  people  in  all  the  surrounding  country. 
At  such  times  all  who  could,  were  expected 
to  arm  themselves  and  stand  ready  to  defend 
the  town.  Three  years  went  by  while  New 
Haven  did  her  share  in  supplying  men,  food 
and  clothing  for  the  Continental  Army.  To 
help  provide  ammunition  a  powder  mill  was 
built  at  Westville.  Meantime  there  was  con- 
stant fear  of  an  attack  on  the  town  for  every- 
one realized  that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter 
for  the  enemy  to  sail  through  the  Sound  and 
destroy  towns  along  the  shore.  How 
real  this  danger  was  at  length  became  evi- 


152         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

dent,  for,  in  1779,  General  Try  on,  the  Brit- 
ish governor  of  New  York,  began  to  make 
raids  along  the  Connecticut  coast,  robbing 
and  burning  the  towns. 

The  Fourth  of  July  fell  on  Sunday  in  the 
year  1779,  and,  in  those  days,  as  now,  under 
such  circumstances,  the  anniversary  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  celebrated 
on  Monday,  the  fifth.  On  this  particular 
Sunday  evening  in  July,  1779,  the  leading 
young  patriots -of  New  Haven  were  making 
preparations  to  hold  their  celebration  on  the 
following  day.  There  was  to  be  a  parade 
and  the  little  military  company  was  to  drill 
on  the  Green.  Cannon  were  to  be  fired  and 
the  church  bells  were  to  be  rung.  But 
while  these  plans  were  being  made  and  the 
boys  and  girls  of  the  town  were  eagerly  look- 
ing forward  to  the  fun  on  the  morrow,  a  fleet 
of  nearly  fifty  British  war  vesels  with  several 
thousand  soldiers  aboard  was  sailing  through 
the  Sound  bound  for  New  Haven;  and  the 
Fourth  of  July  was  celebrated  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent manner  from  what  was  planned  or  ex- 


PATRIOTISM    IN    1/79-  153 

pected.  Cannon  were  fired  and  bells  were 
rung;  but  instead  of  marching  in  a  parade, 
the  militia  marched  to  war. 

News  of  the  coming  of  the  British  fleet 
reached  the  town  late  in  the  evening  of  that 
same  July  Sunday.  At  first  many  people 
thought  they  would  not  stop  at  New  Haven, 
but  before  morning  of  the  next  day  an  alarm 
was  sounded  and  news  was  announced  that 
the  enemy  had  anchored  off  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor.  Then  all  was  excitement  and 
confusion.  Valuables  of  all  kinds  were  hid- 
den in  chimneys  and  feather  beds  or  buried 
in  the  ground  or  put  in  wells.  Furniture 
was  hastily  packed  and  loaded  into  wagons. 
By  daylight  people  were  fleeing  to  the  coun- 
try, some  to  North  Haven,  others  to  Ham- 
den  and  Cheshire.  Many  went  to  East  and 
West  Rocks  where  they  could  watch  the 
movements  of  the  enemy.  Some  remained 
quietly  at  home  because  of  sickness  or  old 
age.  A  few  who  were  secretly  friends  of  the 
British  went  out  to  welcome  them.  In  their 
hurry  and  excitement  some  persons  did  very 


154         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

strange  things.  One  woman  was  seen  run- 
ning out  to  the  country  carrying  her  pet  cat 
in  her  arms  while  her  children  had  been  for- 
gotten and  left  at  home.  Another  tried  to 
save  her  tallow  candles  but  the  hot  July  sun 
melted  them  in  her  hands  leaving  nothing 
but  the  wicks.  Some  one  saw  an  old  lady 
carrying  a  heavy  bundle  and  inquired  what 
she  had.  "  Oh  dear,"  she  replied,  "  I  have 
some  of  my  nice  salt  pork;  I  could  not  bear 
to  have  those  Britishers  eat  it  all  up." 

Early  Monday  morning  Reverend  Ezra 
Stiles,  the  President  of  Yale  College,  mount- 
ed the  tower  of  the  college  chapel,  and  with  a 
spy-glass  plainly  saw  the  boats  of  the  British 
landing  soldiers  at  West  Haven.  There  was 
no  longer  any  doubt  as  to  their  plans.  They 
intended  to  attack  and  plunder  New  Haven 
and  possibly  burn  it.  The  patriotic  citizens 
did  not  once  think  of  surrender  and  made 
ready  to  defend  their  homes.  The  Gover- 
nor's Foot  Guards  and  the  Artillery  company 
were  called  "out  and,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Sabin,  Captain  James  Hillhouse  and 


PATRIOTISM    IN    I7/g.  155 

Captain  Phinehas  Bradley,  marched  out  to 
West  Bridge  on  the  road  leading  to  West 
Haven.  A  number  of  students  joined  their 
ranks  to  help  repel  the  enemy.  The  artil- 
lery company  planted  the  cannon  at  the 
bridge  to  command  the  road  across  the  mead- 
ows. The  Foot  Guards  went  on  towards  the 
West  Haven  Green  where  the  British  had 
halted  for  breakfast.  As  they  crossed  the 
bridge,  Reverend  Naphtali  Daggett,  a  pa- 
triotic old  man  who  had  been  President  of 
Yale  College,  rode  swiftly  by  them  mounted 
on  his  old  black  mare,  holding  his  gun  ready 
to  shoot  the  first  redcoat  he  met.  He  went 
to  the  top  of  a  small  hill  near  the  road,  took 
up  his  position  in  some  bushes,  and  waited 
for  the  enemy  to  come. 

The  British  met  with  some  little  resistance 
when  they  landed  at  West  Haven,  but  soon 
reached  the  village  Green.  Here  they  cap- 
tured the  village  minister,  Mr.  Williston, 
who,  in  trying  to  escape,  fell  over  a  stone 
wall  and  broke  his  leg.  The  soldiers  were 
about  to  kill  him  when  one  of  their  officers, 


1^6        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN, 
o 

Adjutant  Campbell,  interfered  and  saved  his 
life.  He  then  ordered  the  surgeon  of  his 
regiment  to  set  the  broken  limb.  A  short 
distance  beyond  the  Green  .they  were  met  by 
Captain  Hillhouse  and  his  men,  who  fired  on 
them  from  behind  trees  and  stone  walls.  At 
Milford  Hill,  Adjutant  Campbell,  who  had 
just  shown  such  mercy  and  kindness  to  the 
village  minister,  was  killed.18 

Outnumbered  by  the  British  the  Americans 
were  compelled  to  retreat,  and  withdrew 
across  the  bridge  which  was  then  torn  down 
to  prevent  the  enemy  from  crossing.  The 
patriotic  old  President  of  Yale  would  not 
leave  his  post  and  escape  with  the  rest,  but 
continued  to  fire  on  the  redcoats  until  he 
was  surrounded  and  captured  by  them. 
Their  officer  was  so  astonished  to  see  the  old 
man  with  his  long  black  coat  fighting  so 
bravely  that  he  cried  out,  "  What  are  you 
doing  there,  you  old  fool,  firing  on  his  Majes- 
ty's troops  ? "  "  Exercising  the  rights  of 
war,"  replied  the  learned  warrior,  "  If  I  let 
you  go  this  time,  you  rascal,"  said  the  ofii- 


PATRIOTISM    IN    1779-  157 

ccr,  "  will  you  ever  fire  again  on  the  troops 
of  his  Majesty?"  "Nothing  more  likely," 
came  the  quick  reply.  One  of  the  soldiers 
then  tried  to  hit  him  with  his  bayonet,  but 
Mr.  Daggett  begged  so  hard  for  his  life  that 
he  was  spared.  They  beat  him  very  cruelly 
with  their  guns,  however,  and  knocked  him 
down.  Then  they  compelled  him  to  join 
them  on  the  hot  dusty  march  to  the  town. 

When  the  British  found  the  road  across 
the  meadows  well  guarded  by  cannon  and 
the  bridge  across  the  river  destroyed,  they 
marched  along  the  west  side  of  the  river  to 
Westville.  One  of  the  Tories  who  had  gone 
out  to  meet  them  acted  as  their  guide.  On 
the  way  they  were  fired  on  by  patriots  under 
the  command  of  Aaron  Burr,  a  visitor  in 
New  Haven  at  the  time  and  later  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  rest  of  the 
Americans  kept  abreast  of  the  enemy  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river  and  opposed  their 
crossing.  On  reaching  Westville,  some  of 
the  redcoats  tried  to  capture  and  destroy  the 
powder  mill  there,  but  were  driven  off  and 


158         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

forced  to  give  up  the  attempt.  The  march 
from  Westville  to  what  is  now  Broadway 
was  a  continuous  battle.  Every  hour  the 
ranks  of  the  Americans  were  increased  by 
the  arrival  of  patriots  from  the  surrounding 
country.  At  Ditch  Corner,  where  Whalley 
and  Dixwell  avenues  come  together,  there 
was  very  sharp  fighting.  At  Broadway  the 
British  broke  ranks  and  began  their  work  of 
plundering  and  destroying  property.  Help- 
less men  and  women  were  robbed  and  ill- 
treated.  One  poor  man,  crazy  from  sick- 
ness, had  his  tongue  cut  out  because  he  did 
not  answer  a  soldier's  questions.  At  the  cor- 
ner of  Chapel  and  York  streets  they  planted 
cannon  and  fired  down  the  street  several 
times.  At  about  one  o'clock,  tired  from  their 
long  and  harassing  march,  they  reached  the 
center  of  the  town.  The  aged  President 
Daggett,  weak  and  helpless  from  the  weari- 
some tramp,  was  carried  into  one  of  the 
houses  near  the  Green  and  laid  on  a  bed  to 
die.  The  brave  old  fighter  got  well,  how- 


PATRIOTISM    IN    1779-  159 

ever,  and  was  able  to  preach  in  the  college 
chapel  the  next  year. 

The  British  and  Hessian  soldiers  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  day  plundering  the  town. 
They  broke  into  the  houses,  stole  money  and 
watches,  silver  spoons  and  buckles  and  cloth- 
ing. They  cut  beads  from  the  necks  of 
frightened  women  and  tore  earrings  from 
their  ears.  They  cut  feather  beds  to  pieces 
to  find  hidden  treasures.  They  destroyed 
furniture  and  broke  doors  and  windows. 
What  food  they  could  not  use  or  carry  away, 
they  wasted.  They  drank  what  wines  and 
other  liquors  they  could  find  and  many  of 
them  became  drunk  and  committed  out- 
rages which  otherwise  they  might  not  have 
done.  Amidst  such  distressing  scenes,  and 
under  the  scorching  rays  of  the  hot  July  sun, 
that  memorable  day  passed.  Night  put  an 
end  to  most  of  the  revelry  for  the  tired  plun- 
derers were  glad  to  rest  from  their  brutal 
labors. 

The  British  troops  who  landed  at  West 
Haven  were  under  the  command  of  General 


l6o        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Garth.  While  they  were  marching  to  West- 
ville,  another  body  of  the  king's  troops  were 
landing  on  the  east  side  of  the  harbor  near 
what  is  now  Light  House  Point.  These 
were  under  the  command  of  General  Tryon. 
Their  landing  was  opposed  by  a  few  Ameri- 
cans armed  with  muskets  and  one  small  can- 
non. With  great  difficulty  they  fought  their 
way  along  the  shore  by  Morris  Cove  and  a 
small  fort  at  Black  Rock  (now  Fort  Hale) 
and  gained  possession  of  Beacon  Hill.19 
From  here  they  made  raids  on  the  neighbor- 
ing farm  houses,  burning  and  plundering. 
Some  went  as  far  as  the  village  of  East  Ha- 
ven doing  great  damage. 

Among  the  Americans  who  fought  against 
the  British  in  East  Haven  that  day  was 
Chandler  Pardee,  a  young  man,  who,  when 
the  alarm  was  given  on  Sunday  evening,  war- 
making  a  call  dressed  in  his  best  Sunda} 
clothes  and  having  on  a  pair  of  fine  shoes 
with  silver  buckles.  Without  stopping  to 
change  his  shoes  he  seized  his  musket  and 
hurried  to  join  the  rest  of  the  patriots  in  de- 


PATRIOTISM    IN    1779-  l6l 

fending  their  homes.  As  he  and  his  compan- 
ions, outnumbered  by  the  enemy,  were  slowly 
driven  back  towards  the  village,  they  passed 
through  a  swamp.  Here  young  Pardee 
made  a  misstep  and  one  foot  sank  into  the 
soft  mud.  As  he  pulled  it  out  his  shoe  came 
off.  Anxious  to  save  the  silver  buckle,  he 
stopped  to  find  it.  This  nearly  cost  him  his 
life.  As  he  knelt  down  to  feel  in  the  mud  a 
bullet  struck  him  and  passed  almost  through 
his  body.  The  British  soldiers  left  him 
thinking  he  would  surely  die.  But  he  man- 
aged to  crawl  to  a  sheltering  tree  and  after 
a  few  hours  was  found  and  cared  for.  To 
everyone's  surprise  he  recovered  and  later 
served  his  country  again  as  a  soldier. 

As  the  militia  from  the  surrounding  towns 
were  fast  joining  the  ranks  of  the  Americans, 
the  British  generals  decided  to  leave  New 
Haven  as  soon  as  possible.  They  feared 
they  would  be  cut  off  from  their  ships  if  they 
staid  any  longer.  So,  early  Tuesday  morn- 
ing, General  Garth  ordered  his  soldiers  to 
meet  on  the  Green.  Those  who  were  sober 


l62         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

were  taken  across  to  East  Haven,  and,  with 
the  forces  already  there  under  General  Try- 
on,  were  sent  to  burn  houses  and  barns  in  the 
village  center.  The  remainder  were  march- 
ed down  to  Long  Wharf  and  taken  by  boats 
to  the  ships  in  the  harbor.  Before  they  left 
they  set  fire  to  the  stores  on  the  dock ;  and 
to  protect  themselves  they  threatened  to 
burn  the  rest  of  the  town  if  they  were  fired 
upon.  It  is  said,  too,  that  General  Garth 
was  unwilling  to  destroy  New  Haven  because 
it  was  "  such  a  pretty  town." 

The  same  day  General  Tryon  was  driven 
from  Beacon  Hill  by  the  militiamen  and  forc- 
ed to  retreat  to  the  ships.  On  his  retreat  he 
burned  the  barracks  at  Black  Rock.  By 
evening  all  the  enemy's  troops  were  back  on 
their  ships,  and  the  next  morning  they  sailed 
away  to  attack  and  burn  Fairfield  and  Nor- 
walk. 

As  a  result  of  this  British  attack  on  New 
Haven,  twenty-seven  Americans  were  killed, 
seventeen  wounded  and  property  to  the  val- 
ue of  $100,000  was  destroyed.  The  cruelty 


PATRIOTISM   IN    1779-  163 

and  brutality  of  the  Hessian  soldiers  was  nev- 
er forgotten  by  those  who  suffered  from  it; 
and  it  only  served  to  arouse  the  hatred  of 
the  people  and  make  them  more  determined 
than  ever  to  win  their  independence  and  make 
it  possible  for  their  descendants  to  celebrate 
the  Fourth  of  July  in  peace  if  not  in  quiet. 
Nearly  a  century  and  a  quarter  has  passed 
since  that  time  and  every  year  the  anniversary 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  has  been 
observed  in  some  way  by  New  Haven.  But 
never  has  it  been,  and,  let  us  hope,  never  may 
it  be  again,  celebrated  as  it  was  in  the  year 
1779. 


CHAPTER  XL 

How  New  Haven  Defended  the  Mendi 
Men. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  not  far  from 
Sierra  Leone  is  the  little  country  of  Mendi, 
where  there  lived,  more  than  sixty  years  ago, 
some  very  black  negroes  who  played  a  much 
mere  prominent  part  in  history  than  they 
ever  expected  or  desired,  and  who  form  the 
subject  of  this  story.  Early  in  the  year  1839 
these  negroes  were  kidnapped  by  some  Span- 
ish slave  traders  and  locked  in  a  barracoon, 
or  slave  warehouse,  at  a  place  called  Dum- 
bomo.  Shortly  afterward  they  were  placed, 
chained  together,  on  a  Portugese  slave  vessel 
and  taken  to  Havana,  Cuba,  where  they  were 
sold  for  $450  apiece  to  two  Cubans  named 
Ruiz  and  Montez. 

The  slave  trade  was  unlawful  in  Spain  and 


DEFENSE    OF    THE    MENDI    MEN.         165 

the  Spanish  colonies  at  that  time,  but  in  the 
West  Indies  slave  traders  easily  bribed  the 
Spanish  governors  and  bought  and  sold  ne- 
groes regularly.  Ruiz  and  Montez  planned 
to  take  their  slaves  to  another  place  in  Cuba 
and  again  sell  them  or  set  them  to  work  on 
plantations.  Hiring  a  small  schooner  called 
the  Amistad  (meaning,  in  English,  "  The 
Friendship  ")  they  put  the  Mendi  slaves 
aboard  together  with  a  quantity  of  merchan- 
dise, and  set  sail  from  Havana  June  28,  1839, 
bound  for  Guanaja,  a  small  Cuban  town  not 
far  away.  The  voyage  was  to  be  so  short 
that  little  food  and  water  were  carried  and 
the  negroes  were  not  chained.  How  cruel 
and  careless  this  was,  events  soon  proved. 
Two  of  the  negroes,  becoming  very  thirsty, 
stole  and  drank  some  water.  As  a  punish- 
ment they  were  severely  whipped.  One  of 
them  then  ventured  to  ask  the  cook  where 
they  were  going.  He  replied  that  they  were 
being  taken  away  to  be  killed  and  eaten. 
This  frightened  them  for  they  believed  it. 
They  immediately  formed  a  plot  to  gain  their 


l66         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

freedom.  In  this  they  were  led  by  their 
chief,  whose  name  was  Cinque  [Cin-kay], 
He  was  a  very  strong  and  active  fellow,  and 
a  match  for  any  two  men  on  the  vessel.  He 
was  intelligent  and  brave  as  well. 

On  the  second  night  of  the  voyage  it  was 
quite  dark  and  rainy.  It  seemed  a  favorable 
time  to  carry  out  their  plot.  So  several  of 
the  stronger  negroes  armed  themselves  with 
some  long  knives  wrhich  they  found  on  board, 
and  which  were  commonly  used  to  cut  sugar 
cane.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  they  sud- 
denly rose,  attacked  the  captain  and  killed 
him.  The  noise  of  the  fight  aroused  the 
rest  of  the  crew,  who,  supposing  the  negroes 
were  hungry,  ordered  the  cook  to  give  them 
food.  But  as  soon  as  they  discovered  the 
real  meaning  of  the  trouble,  they  tried  to  es- 
cape. Most  of  them  got  away  in  a  small 
boat  but  the  cook  was  killed.  Ruiz  and 
Montez  were  overpowered  and  captured. 
Their  lives  were  spared,  although  one  of  them 
was  badly  wounded. 

Cinque   and   his   companions  thus   gained 


DEFENSE    OF    THE    MENDI    MEN.         l6/ 

possession  of  the  vessel  and  compelled  their 
two  white  captives,  who  had  so  shortly  before 
been  their  masters,  to  steer  directly  for 
Africa,  their  home.  They  knew  that  it  lay 
in  the  direction  of  the  rising  sun  and  "  three 
moons  "  distant.  Ruiz  and  Montez  obeyed 
their  dusky  captors  and  sailed  east  during 
the  day,  but  at  night  when  the  negroes  could 
not  tell  in  what  direction  they  were  going, 
they  sailed  northwest,  hoping  to  meet  a 
friendly  ship.  Meantime  the  blacks  amused 
themselves  in  various  ways  on  board  the 
schooner.  They  adorned  each  other  with  the 
bright  colored  silks  and  the  glass  beads 
which  they  found  among  the  merchandise. 
A  number  of  looking-glasses  gave  them 
special  delight.  The  books  they  could  not 
read,  but  they  enjoyed  looking  at  the  pic- 
tures in  them.  For  food  they  used  the  sup- 
plies of  raisins,  bread,  rice,  fruit  and  olives. 
For  more  than  two  months  they  continued 
on  their  zig-zag  voyage,  suffering  many  hard- 
ships. Some  of  their  number  became  sick 
and  ten  of  them  died.  When  they  at  last 


l68         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

reached  land  they  were  far  from  their  native 
Africa.  The  Amistad  came  to  anchor  at  the 
eastern  end  of  Long  Island  near  Montauk 
Point.  No  one  on  board  knew  where  they 
were.  Cinque  and  a  few  others  went  ashore 
to  buy  food  and  water  from  the  farmers  near- 
by. One  of  them  named  Banna,  could  speak 
a  little  English  and  made  known  their  wants 
to  the  white  men  who  met  them  on  the  shore. 
Cinque  told  Banna  to  ask  if  that  country 
made  slaves.  When  they  learned  that  it 
was  a  "  free  country  "  they  were  very  much 
relieved,  and  when  told  that  there  were  no 
Spaniards  there,  they  leaped  and  shouted  for 
joy.  The  Long  Island  farmers  were  fright- 
ened by  these  strange  actions  and  ran  for 
their  guns.  Banna  soon  quieted  them  by 
telling  them  that  he  and  his  companions 
meant  no  harm.  They  then  cooked  some 
food  on  the  shore  and  sought  to  hire  one  of 
the  white  men,  a  sea  captain,  to  take  them 
back  to  Africa.  When  they  returned  to  the 
vessel  they  took  two  dogs  which  they  paid 
for  with  some  Spanish  gold  pieces. 


DEFENSE    OF    THE    MENDI    MEN.         169 

Meantime  a  United  States  Coast  Survey 
vessel,  the  Washington,  which  was  cruising 
in  that  neighborhood,  watched  the  strange 
black  schooner,  and,  thinking  she  was  ashore 
or  in  distress,  sent  a  boat's  crew  to  help  her. 
The  American  sailors  were  surprised  to  find 
the  deck  of  the  Amistad  occupied  by  negroes 
armed  with  knives.  An  officer  drove  them 
into  the  hold  of  the  vessel  at  the  point  of  his 
pistol.  Cinque,  hoping  to  escape,  jumped 
overboard  with  the  two  dogs,  but  was  cap- 
tured and  handcuffed.  Ruiz  and  Montez 
were  soon  found  imprisoned  and  at  once 
released.  When  their  story  was  told  the 
Amistad  was  taken  across  the  Sound  to  New 
London  harbor  and  news  of  the  affair  sent 
to  the  United  States  Marshal  in  New  Haven. 
Cinque  was  very  much  excited  by  the  new 
turn  of  their  fortunes  and  loudly  urged  his 
followers  to  rise  against  their  captors.  This 
was  prevented,  however.  In  a  few  days  a 
charge  of  murder  and  piracy  was  brought 
against  the  negroes  and  they  were  taken  to 
New  Haven  to  await  trial.  They  were  plac- 


STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ed  in  the  old  county  jail  which  stood  where 
the  city  hall  is  now. 

When  the  people  of  New  Haven  learned 
what  queer  prisoners  were  shut  up  in  their 
jail  they  became  very  much  interested  in 
them.  Such  a  crowd  of  negroes  only  lately 
come  from  their  far  African  homes  was  a 
curious  sight  in  New  England.  They  num- 
bered about  forty  and  three  of  them  were 
young  girls.  Some  of  them  were  sick  and 
none  of  them  had  had  sufficient  to  eat  or 
much  to  wear.  So  doctors  were  sent  to  care 
for  them  and  they  were  provided  with  prop- 
er food  and  clothing.  They  liked  the  corn 
and  rice,  but  they  didn't  know  what  to  do 
with  the  white  men's  shirts  and  pantaloons, 
for  they  seldom  wore  clothes  in  their  own 
tropical  climate.  It  was  some  time  before 
they  learned  how  to  put  them  on  and  never 
felt  very  comfortable  in  them.  The  little 
girls  wound  the  shawls  which  were  given 
them  into  turbans  for  their  heads. 

Although  one  of  the  Mendi  men  could  un- 
derstand a  few  English  words,  he  could  not 


DEFENSE    OF   THE    MENDI    MEN.        171 

speak  the  language  well  enough  to  tell  the 
story  of  their  unhappy  life  in  slavery  or  their 
dreadful  voyage  in  search  of  freedom  and 
home.  They  were  represented  by  Ruiz 
and  Montez  as  fugitives  from  slavery  and 
bloodthirsty  pirates.  They  could  not  an- 
swer this  false  charge  for  they  were  unable 
to  tell  their  side  of  the  story.  Because  they 
were  so  helpless,  they  received  a  great  deal 
of  sympathy.  Many  people  who  were  be- 
ginning to  look  upon  slavery  as  a  great  wrong 
wanted  to  free  the  unfortunate  captives. 
The  first  thing  to  do,  however,  was  to  find 
some  one  who  could  talk  with  them  and 
learn  their  story.  Professor  Gibbs,  of  Yale 
College,  who  was  greatly  interested  in  them, 
succeeded  in  doing  this.  He  learned  the 
sounds  made  by  the  negroes  in  counting 
from  one  to  ten.  Then  he  searched  the 
ships  in  the  harbor  to  find  some  negro  sailor 
who  could  understand  the  language  in  which 
those  sounds  were  used  in  counting.  Un- 
able to  find  such  a  man  in  New  Haven  har- 
bor he  went  to  New  York  where  he  was 


172         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

more  successful.  On  a  British  ship,  the 
Buzzard,  there  was  a  negro  sailor  boy  named 
James  Covey,  who  knew  the  Mendi  language 
and  could  talk  English  as  well.  The 
British  captain  permitted  him  to  be  taken 
to  New  Haven  where  he  acted  as  interpreter. 
When  Cinque  and  his  companions  heard  this 
boy  talking  to  them  in  their  native  tongue 
they  jumped  up  and  down  with  joy  and  left 
their  breakfasts  uneaten,  for  now  they  could 
tell  the  white  men  all  that  had  happened  to 
them. 

The  story  was  soon  told.  With  the  help 
of  Professor  Gibbs  and  the  boy,  Covey,  they 
related  how  they  had  been  captured  by  the 
Spanish  slave  dealers;  how  they  had  been 
chained  in  cramped  positions  between  the 
narrow  decks  of  the  Portugese  vessel,  and 
vinegar  and  powder  rubbed  on  their  blister- 
ed skin  when  they  complained;  how  they 
had  been  sold  in  Havana ;  how  they  had  been 
frightened  by  the  cruel  cook  of  the  Amistad ; 
how  they  had  fought  for  their  freedom  and 
borne  hardships  on  their  long  and  fruitless 


DEFENSE    OF   THE    MENDI    MEN.        173 

voyage;  and  how  they  had  at  last  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Americans  and  been  put  in 
prison.  People  listened  to  the  account  with 
indignation.  Good  men  were  more  deter- 
mined than  ever  to  defend  and  free  them. 
Under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan,  a 
wealthy  Abolitionist,  of  New  York,  money 
was  raised  and  lawyers  were  hired  to  plead 
for  them  before  the  courts.  Roger  S.  Bald- 
win, of  New  Haven,  labored  earnestly  to  de- 
fend them  in  this  way,  and  won  great  honor 
by  his  service. 

The  first  trial  of  the  Mendi  captives  was 
held  in  Hartford,  in  September,  1839.  The 
prisoners  were  taken  by  canal  boat  to  Farm- 
ington,  thence  by  wagons  to  Hartford.20 
Two  questions  were  to  be  settled  by  the  court. 
The  first  was,  whether  the  negroes  could  be 
tried  in  the  United  States  for  the  killing  of 
the  captain  and  cook  of  the  Amistad.  The 
court  decided  that,  as  the  murder  was  com- 
mitted on  a  Spanish  vessel  they  could  be  tried 
only  in  Spanish  courts.  The  second  ques- 
tion was,  whether  the  officers  of  the  United 


174         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

States  Coast  Survey  vessel,  the  Washington, 
ought  to  be  paid  what  is  called  salvage  for 
rescuing  Ruiz  and  Montez  with  their  negro 
slaves  of  the  Amistad.  The  court  decided 
that  they  should  be  paid  for  saving  the  ves- 
sel but  that  the  men,  women  and  children 
could  not  be  sold  for-  their  benefit,  even 
though  they  were  black. 

There  was  still  another  question  to  be  de- 
cided regarding  the  Mendi  men  and  one 
which  created  much  interest  and  discussion 
throughout  the  whole  country.  The  Span- 
ish government  had  demanded  that  the  ship 
Amistad  be  surrendered  to  Spanish  officers 
and  that  the  negroes  be  sent  back  to  Cuba 
as  slaves.  What  should  be  done  ?  The  peo- 
ple of  the  North  declared  that  these  free  ne- 
groes ought  not  to  be  sent  into  slavery,  but 
returned  to  Africa,  while  the  slave  holding 
Southerners  thought  that  the  Spanish  claim 
was  just  and  that  the  prisoners  should  be 
given  up.  The  question  caused  much  vexa- 
tion to  Martin  VanBuren,  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  for  he  was  anxious  to 


DEFENSE    OF    THE    MENDI    MEN.         175 

please    the    South    without    offending    the 
North. 

The  United  States  court  at  New  Haven 
was  to  decide  this  third  question.  So  the 
captives  were  taken  back  to  their  old  quar- 
ters in  New  Haven.  As  the  Hartford  court 
had  decided  that  they  had  broken  no  laws 
of  this  country,  they  were  allowed  greater 
freedom  than  before.  On  pleasant  days  the 
jailor  took  them  out  on  the  Green  for  exer- 
cise. Crowds  of  curious  people  gathered  to 
watch  them  and  laughed  at  their  queer  an- 
tics. It  was  as  good  as  a  circus.  The  Afri- 
cans were  short,  well-built  fellows,  and  black 
as  coal.  Cinque  amused  the  crowd  by  run- 
ning and  jumping  into  the  air  and  then,  turn- 
ing several  somersaults  before  landing  on  his 
feet  again.  Many  of  them  were  tattooed 
and  wore  bright  ornaments.  Efforts  were 
made  by  several  persons  to  teach  them. 
Several  of  them  did  learn  to  read  and  write. 
When  winter  came  they  looked  in  wonder 
and  awe  at  the  deep  snow  but  did  not  suffer 
from  the  cold  although  they  wore  little 


176         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

clothing.  One  of  their  number,  named 
Kaperi,  died,  and  his  funeral  was  attended 
by  many  of  the  citizens  of  the  city. 

When  the  time  for  the  next  trial  came 
there  was  much  excitement.  Hundreds  of 
people  went  to  the  court  house  every  day  to 
listen.  At  the  same  time  lying  anchored  in 
the  harbor  was  a  United  States  war-ship,  the 
Grampus,  sent  by  President  VanBuren  at 
the  request  of  the  Spanish  Minister  to  take 
the  negroes  back  to  Cuba  as  soon  as  the 
trial  ended,  for  it  was  expected  that  the  court 
would  decide  the  case  against  the  captives. 
The  slave  holders  were  disappointed  in  their 
expectations,  however.  The  court  decided 
that  Cinque  and  his  companions  were  free 
and  ordered  them  taken  back  to  Africa.  The 
President  was  unwilling  to  accept  this  de- 
cision and  the  case  was  then  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  The 
Mendi  men  were  very  happy  when  told  of 
the  decision  of  the  New  Haven  court,  but 
they  could  not  understand  why  they  were  to 


DEFENSE    OF    THE    MENDI    MEN.         177 

be  kept  in  prison  so  many  months  longer. 
While  they  were  waiting  for  their  case  to  be 
heard  before  the  Supreme  Court,  they  were 
taken  out  to  Westville,  for  the  old  jail  was 
to  be  pulled  down.  There,  one  of  their  num- 
ber, a  boy  named  Ka-le,  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr. 
John  Quincy  Adams.  Mr.  Adams,  who  had 
been  President  of  the  United  States,  was 
preparing  to  defend  them  before  the  Supreme 
Court.  This  letter  read  as  follows: 

New  Haven,  Jan.  4,  1841. 
Dear  Friend  Mr.  Adams: — 

I  want  to  write  a  letter  to  you  because  you  love 
Mendi  people,  and  you  talk  to  the  grand  court.  We 
want  to  tell  you  one  thing.  Jose  Ruiz  say  we  born 
in  Havana,  he  tell  lie.  We  stay  in  Havana  10  days 
and  10  nights,  we  stay  no  more.  We  all  born  in 
Mendi — we  no  understand  the  Spanish  language. 
Mendi  people  been  in  America  17  moons.  We  talk 
American  language  little,  not  very  good;  we  write 
every  day;  we  write  plenty  letters;  we  read  most  all 
time;  we  read  all  Matt,  and  Mark  and  Luke  and  John, 
and  plenty  of  little  books.  We  love  books  very 
much.  We  want  you  to  ask  the  court  what  we  have 
done  wrong.  What  for  Americans  keep  us  in  prison. 
Some  people  say  Mendi  people  crazy;  Mendi  people 
dolt,  because  we  no  talk  American  language.  Merica 
people  no  talk  Mendi  language;  Merica  people  dolt? 


STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

They  tell  bad  things  about  Mendi  people  and  we  no 
understand.  Some  men  say,  Mendi  people  very  hap- 
py because  they  laugh  and  have  plenty  to  eat.  Mr. 
Pendleton  (the  jailor)  come  and  Mendi  people  all 
look  sorry  because  they  think  about  Mendi  land  and 
friends  we  no  see,  now  Mr.  P.  say  Mendi  people 
angry;  white  men  afraid  of  Mendi  people.  The 
Mendi  people  no  look  sorry  again — that  why  we  laugh. 
But  Mendi  people  feel  sorry,  O,  we  can't  tell  how 
sorry.  Some  people  say,  Mendi  people  no  got  souls. 
Why  we  feel  bad,  we  got  no  souls?  We  want  to  be 
free  very  much. 

Dear  friend  Mr.  Adams,  you  have  children,  you 
have  friends,  you  love  them,  you  feel  very  sorry  if 
Mendi  people  come  and  carry  them  all  to  Africa. 
We  feel  bad  for  our  friends  and  our  friends  all  feel 
bad  for  us.  Americans  no  take  us  on  ship.  We  on 
shore,  and  Americans  tell  us  slave  ship  catch  us.  They 
say  we  make  you  free.  If  they  make  us  free  they  tell 
true,  if  they  no  make  us  free  they  tell  lie.  If  Ameri- 
can people  give  us  free,  we  glad,  if  they  no  give  us 
free,  we  sorry,  we  sorry  for  Mendi  people  little,  we 
sorry  for  American  people  great  deal  because  God 
punish  liars.  We  want  you  to  tell  court  that  Mendi 
people  no  want  to  go  back  to  Havana,  we  no  want  to 
be  killed.  Dear  Friend  we  want  you  to  know  how 
we  feel.  Mendi  people  think  think  think.  Nobody 
know  what  he  think;  teacher  he  know,  we  tell  him 
some.  Mendi  people  have  got  souls.  We  think  we 
know  God  punish  us  if  we  tell  lie;  we  speak  truth. 
What  for  Mendi  people  afraid?  Because  they  got 
souls.  Cook  say  he  kill,  he  eat  Mendi  people — we 
afraid — we  kill  cook,  then  captain  kill  one  man  with 


DEFENSE    OF    THE    MENDI    MEN. 

knife,  and  cut  Mendi  people  plenty.  We  never  kill  cap- 
tain, he  no  kill  us.     If  court  ask  who  brought  Mendi 
people   to   America?  we    bring   ourselves.     Ceci   hold 
the  rudder.     All  we  want  is  make  us  free. 
Your  friend, 

KA-LE. 

In  March,  1841,  nearly  two  years  after  the 
Mendi  men  had  been  stolen  from  their  homes 
in  Africa,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  decided  that  they  were  not  slaves, 
and  ordered  them  to  be  set  free.  The  first 
news  of  the  decision  reached  New  Haven  in 
a  newspaper.  The  Marshall  at  once  an- 
nounced to  his  prisoners  that  the  "  big 
court  "  had  set  them  free.  Cinque  was  in 
some  doubt  about  it  at  first.  "  Paper  lie 
sometimes,"  he  said.  But  when  they  learn- 
ed that  it  was  really  true  there  was  great 
rejoicing  and  they  all  fell  on  their  knees  in 
prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

Although  they  were  set  free,  the  poor 
Mendi  men  were  far  from  home  and  knew 
not  how  to  reach  there.  Their  old  vessel, 
the  Amistad,  had  been  sold  and  they  had  no 
money.  "  Tell  the  American  people,"  they 


I8O         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

said,  "  that  we  very  very  very  much  want  to 
go  to  our  home."  Their  friends  then  set  to 
work  to  raise  money  to  send  them  back  to 
Mendi.  Some  of  them  were  carried  about 
the  country  on  exhibition,  while  the  rest  went 
to  Farmington,  Connecticut,  to  work.  At 
length  enough  money  was  collected  to  pay 
their  passage  and  they  returned  to  Africa. 
With  them  went  two  missionaries,  who  es- 
tablished a  school  in  Mendi.  Cinque  went 
back  to  his  savage  life  again,  but  acted  as 
interpreter  for  the  mission.  One  of  the  little 
girls  became  a  teacher  in  the  school.  None 
of  them  ever  forgot  their  terrible  experiences 
on  the  Amistad  or  how  they  were  cared  for 
and  defended  by  the  white  men  at  New  Ha- 
ven. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

How  the  People  of  New  Haven  Lived  in 
Colonial  Days. 

Could  those  pious  Puritans  who  landed  at 
Quinnipiac  in  1638  return  to  life  and  spend 
a  day  in  modern  New  Haven,  they  would 
hardly  know  where  they  were  or  what  to  do 
with  themselves.  They  would  need  to  learn 
again  how  to  live.  The  uses  of  almost 
everything  would  be  unknowrn  to  them,  and 
they  would  require  a  guide  to  show  them 
around  and  explain  things.  If  they  came 
again  by  boat  they  would  find  that  their  old 
landing  place  was  more  than  a  mile  from 
the  harbor,  and  that  the  creek  leading  to  it 
had  entirely  disappeared.  Wondering,  and 
probably  somewhat  frightened  by  the 
strangeness  of  their  surroundings,  they 
would  seek  the  old  market-place,  the  present 
.Green. 


l82         STORIES    OF    OLD    XEW    HAVEX. 

First  the  tall  buildings  and  modern  brick 
houses  would  astonish  these  old  Puritan  vis- 
itors. There  were  large  houses  in  New  Ha- 
ven when  they  lived  there  in  the  seventeenth 
century — larger  than  those  in  most  of  the 
other  New  England  settlements;  but  they 
were  built  of  wood  and  were  not  as  com- 
fortable or  convenient  as  modern  houses. 
The  rooms  were  large  but  the  floors  were 
bare  or  sprinkled  with  sand.  Very  few  peo- 
ple could  afford  carpets.  Mr.  Eaton  had 
some  but  he  was  a  rich  man. 

The  furniture  in  these  early  homes  was 
very  plain.  The  chairs  were  hard  and 
straight-backed;  children  usually  sat  upon 
benches  both  at  home  and  in  school.  The 
beds  were  not  as  comfortable  as  modern 
ones ;  there  were  no  springs  on  them,  and  in 
winter,  before  going  to  bed,  it  was  necessary 
to  warm  them  with  a  warming  pan.  There 
were  no  furnaces  or  stoves  in  those  days; 
and  there  was  no  coal.  The  fire  in  the  great 
fire-place  served  for  both  heating  and  cook- 
ing. It  was  difficult  to  heat  the  big  rooms 


MODE    OF    LIFE    IN    COLONIAL    DAYS.  183 

in  winter  for  most  of  the  heat  from  the  fire- 
place went  up  the  chimney.  Water  often 
froze  in  another  part  of  the  room  and  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  close  to  the  fire  to  keep 
warm.  The  windows  were  small  and,  at 
first,  covered  with  oiled  paper.  When  glass 
could  be  obtained  it  was  very  imperfect  and 
made  objects  look  blurred  and  indistinct. 

These  visiting  settlers  of  old  New  Haven 
who  required  two  weeks  to  move  from  Bos- 
ton to  Quinnipiac  in  1638  would  be  unable 
to  understand  howr  the  same  journey  could 
be  made  in  three  or  four  hours  to-day.  Rail- 
roads and  trolley-cars  would  seem  marvelous 
to  them.  To  make  a  journey  was  a  very 
great  undertaking  in  their  day.  The  easiest 
way  to  travel  was  by  water.  When  that  was 
impossible,  walking  or  riding  horse-back  was 
necessary.  Many  years  passed  before  peo- 
ple could  travel  far  in  wheeled  carts;  even 
then  the  roads  were  so  rough  that  traveling 
was  slow  and  dangerous.  Horses  or  carts 
frequently  were  mired  and  sometimes  travel- 


STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ers    were  tipped    over  in  swollen    streams. 
That,  of  course,  was  very  unpleasant. 

These  old  New  Haven  colonists  would  be 
interested  in  the  modern  method  of  supply- 
ing people  with  water.  The  network  of  pipes 
extending  to  all  parts  of  the  city  would  puz- 
zle them.  Water  was  brought  by  hand  in 
wooden  pails  or  leather  buckets  from  near- 
by springs  or  streams,  while  they  were  build- 
ing New  Haven.  As  soon  as  they  could 
find  time  they  dug  wells  near  their  houses 
and  built  wellsweeps  with  which  to  draw 
water.  A  wellsweep  was  made  by  setting 
a  forked  stake  upright  in  the  ground  a  short 
distance  from  the  well.  Across  this  was  fas- 
tened a  long  pole  in  such  a  manner  that  one 
arm  was  much  longer  than  the  other  and 
reached  high  into  the  air.  The  shorter  end 
was  usually  weighted  with  a  heavy  stone  or 
log.  On  the  end  of  the  long  arm  was  tied 
a  slender  pole  to  which  a  bucket  was  attach- 
ed. By  pulling  down  the  tall  sweep  by 
means  of  the  slender  pole  the  bucket  was 
lowered  into  the  well;  the  heavy  weight  on 


AN    OLD    WELLSWEEP. 


MODE    OF    LIFE    IN    COLONIAL   DAYS.  185 

the  short  arm  of  the  sweep  helped  to  raise 
it  again.  A  few  of  these  old-fashioned  well- 
sweeps  may  be  seen  in  the  country  around 
New  Haven  to-day. 

These  Puritan  founders  would  be  dazzled 
by  the  gas  and  electric  lights  of  the  modern 
city.  The  ordinary  kerosene  oil  lamp  would 
amaze  them ;  they  would  not  know  even  how 
to  scratch  a  match.  To  light  a  fire  was  not 
an  easy  thing  to  do  in  colonial  days.  If  the 
fire  in.  the  fire-place  went  out,  the  easiest 
way  to  start  it  again  was  to  send  some  one 
with  a  pan  or  piece  of  green  bark  to  fetch 
glowing  coals  from  a  neighbor's  hearthfire. 
The  only  way  to  start  a  new  fire  was  to  strike 
a  piece  of  flint  and  steel  together  and  let  the 
spark  thus  made  catch  on  a  piece  of  tinder 
or  cotton.  To  do  this  successfully  required 
great  skill.  It  would  be  difficult  for  any- 
one to  do  it  now-a-days. 

Pine  knots  and  tallow  candles  furnished 
the  colonists  with  light.  A  pine  knot  was  a 
very  dirty  and  smoky  thing,  but  many  an  old 
Puritan  minister  wrote  his  long  sermons 


l86        STORIES    OF   OLD    NEW   HAVEX. 

with  the  aid  of  such  a  light.  Candle  making 
was  an  important  household  duty.  Every 
bit  of  tallow  was  carefully  saved  and  melted. 
The  candle  "wicks  were  made  of  hemp  or  cot- 
ton, and  were  dipped  in  the  hot  tallow,  then 
taken  out  and  allowed  to  cool.  This  was 
done  over  and  over  again  until  the  candle 
was  of  the  right  size.  Sometimes  the  melt- 
ed tallow  was  poured  into  molds.  All  can- 
dles were  carefully  laid  away  and  sparingly 
used.  How  valuable  they  were  considered 
is  clearly  shown  by  the  proverb,  "  Don't  burn 
the  candle  at  "both  ends." 

The  different  styles  of  dress  worn  at  pres- 
ent would  seem  peculiar  to  Puritans  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  men  of  that  early 
time  wore  knee-breeches  and  shoes  with  sil- 
ver buckles  and  wooden  heels.  All  cloth  was 
made  at  home  and  all  clothing  made  from 
"  home-spun."  Spinning  was  an  important 
part  of  a  Puritan  girl's  education  and  weav- 
ing was  the  chief  home-industry.  The  set- 
tlers of  New  Haven  wore  finer  raiment  than 
those  of  the  other  New  England  colonies 


MODE    OF    LIFE    IN    COLONIAL   DAYS.  l8/ 

because  many  of  them  were  well-to-do  mer- 
chants; as  a  class  they  were  accustomed  to 
richer  garments  than  farmers  or  sailors.  The 
New  Haven  Court  never  passed  laws  for- 
bidding people  to  wear  expensive  clothes  as 
was  done  in  other  places.  No  doubt  bright 
colors  and  ruffled  collars  were  frequently 
seen  in  the  first  church  that  stood  on  the 
Green. 

It  would  surprise  these  early  dwellers  in 
colonial  New  Haven  to  hear  every  man  ad- 
dressed as  "  Mister  "  to-day.  They  were  ac- 
customed to  hear  Theophilus  Eaton  and  men 
of  his  rank  only,  called  "  Mister."  The  dif- 
ferent ranks  to  which  people  belonged  in 
colonial  society  were  strictly  marked.  Only 
those  men,  who,  to-day,  would  be  addressed 
as  ''Honorable,"  were  called  "Mister;"  a 
man  of  ordinary  rank  was  known  as  "  Good- 
man "  when  New  Haven  was  settled.  Peo- 
ple sat  in  church  according  to  their  rank 
and  it  was  a  serious  social  offence  for  a  per- 
son to  sit  in  the  wrong  pew.  Great  respect 
was  paid  to  persons  of  high  rank  in  public 


1 88        STORIES    OF    OLD    N,EW   HAVEN. 

gatherings,  on  the  street  and  even  in  the 
home.  Children  were  not  expected  to  speak 
in  their  presence  and  always  stood  aside 
when  they  passed. 

Should  these  visiting  founders  of  New  Ha- 
ven be  invited  out  to  dinner  much  of  the  food 
served  would  be  strange  to  them  and  the 
dishes  unfamiliar.  China  was  rare  in  New 
Haven  so  early  in  its  history.  Plates  were 
made  of  square  or  round  pieces  of  wood  hol- 
lowed out,  and  were  called  "  trenchers." 
Pitchers  were  wooden,  too,  and  usually  call- 
ed "  tankards."  Forks  were  not  used  at 
early  colonial  dinners  as  most  of  the  food 
was  prepared  in  such  form  that  it  could  be 
eaten  with  a  spoon.  Potatoes  were  not 
thought  fit  to  eat  by  the  New  England  colo- 
nists; even  cattle  were  not  allowed  to  have 
them.  Tea,  coffee  and  chocolate  did  not 
come  into  common  use  until  long  after  New 
Haven  was  founded.  Maple  sugar  was  used 
for  sweetening  as  other  kinds  were  very  rare. 
Little  butter  was  used,  but  cheese  and  milk 
were  plentiful.  The  Indians  taught  the  white 


MODE    OF    LIFE    IN    COLONIAL    DAYS.  189 

settlers  how  to  grow  corn  and  prepare  it  for 
eating.  At  first  this  was  the  "  staff  of  life." 
The  abundance  of  fish  and  game  furnished 
the  colonists  with  meat;  wild  turkeys  and 
pigeons  were  very  numerous. 

Clocks  and  watches  would  be  unfamiliar 
objects  to  the  founders  of  New  Haven. 
They  had  no  watches;  and  there  were  few 
clocks  in  their  day.  Mr.  Davenport  owned 
a  clock  at  the  time  of  his  death,  but  whether 
or  not  he  brought  it  to  Quinnipiac  when  he 
came  is  not  known.  The  colonists  used  sun- 
dials and  noon-marks  to  tell  the  time  of  day. 
The  ordinary  family  clock  was  the  noon- 
mark.  It  consisted  of  a  mark  on  the  floor 
in  a  doorway  or  on  a  windowsill  where  the 
shadow  of  the  sun  fell  at  noon. 

Newspapers  would  be  entirely  strange  to 
the  New  Haven  colonists.  The  only  way 
to  obtain  news  in  colonial  days  was  by  means 
of  letters  or  chance  travelers.  When  any- 
one received  a  letter  from  England  or  an- 
other colony  he  usually  passed  it  around 
among  his  neighbors  or  read  it  to  a  crowd 


190        STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

gathered  at  the  inn.  Travelers  entertained 
the  men  of  the  village  by  telling  them  the 
latest  news  from  distant  settlements  or  for- 
eign lands.  Sometimes  this  "  latest  news  " 
was  many  months  old. 

Could  these  visiting  Puritans  of  old  New 
Haven  remain  over  Sunday  in  the  modern 
city  they  would  hardly  realize  that  it  was 
the  Sabbath  Day.  Sunday  was  the  most  im- 
portant day  of  all  the  week  with  them. 
"  Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it 
holy  "  was  one  of  the  Ten  Commandments 
and  was  strictly  obeyed  in  all  Puritan  set- 
tlements. The  Sabbath  began  Saturday 
evening  because  the  Bible  story  of  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  says,  "  The  evening  and  the 
morning  were  the  first  day."  There  are 
many  still  living  who  can  remember  when 
that  was  the  custom;  a  few  old  persons  ob- 
serve it  even  to-day. 

Saturday  was  a  very  busy  day  with  these 
strict  Puritans.  Food  was  prepared,  the 
house  cleaned,  the  floors  freshly  sanded  and 
the  wood  brought  in  for  over  Sunday.  As 


MODE    OF    LIFE    IN    COLONIAL    DAYS.  IQI 

soon  as  the  first  star  appeared  Saturday  night 
all  unnecessary  work  ceased  and  quiet  reign- 
ed in  the  community.  Sunday  was  a  day  of 
rest  but  not  of  recreation.  Everybody  was 
up  bright  and  early  ready  for  church.  At  the 
beat  of  the  drum  they  started  out,  walking 
slowly  and  solemnly.  None  were  allowed  to 
stay  at  home  except  on  account  of  severe 
sickness  or  accident.  Woe  to  the  lazy  or 
indifferent  who  were  missing  from  their 
pews !  In  church  all  the  men  sat  on  one  side 
and  all  the  women  on  the  other.  Young 
men  sat  in  the  rear  seats  and  servants  in 
the  gallery.  Boys  were  seated  together,  us- 
ually on  the  pulpit  stairs,  and  an  officer  call- 
ed a  tithingman  was  appointed  to  watch  them 
and  keep  them  quiet.  Any  noisy  or  unruly 
youngsters  were  sure  to  be  prodded  with  a 
long  stick  by  the  tithingman.  The  services 
lasted  several  hours  and  must  have  been 
very  tiresome  to  restless  children.  The 
prayers  were  sometimes  more  than  an  hour 
long  and  the  sermons  still  longer.  In  win- 
ter it  was  difficult  to  keep  warm,  for  the 


192         STORIES    OF    OLD    XE\V    HAVEN*. 

churches  were  not  heated.  To  keep  their 
toes  from  freezing  women  carried  with  them 
small  foot  stoves  or  metal  boxes  containing 
a  few  hot  coals.  Men  kept  on  their  hats  in 
church  except  when  Mr.  Davenport  announc- 
ed his  text;  then  they  stood  up  and  took 
them  off. 

As  the  Sabbath  began  Saturday  evening, 
so  it  ended  Sunday  evening.  Just  as  soon 
as  the  first  star  could  be  dimly  spied  by  the 
boys  and  girls,  the  severe  restraint  of  the 
day  was  removed.  Then  was  the  time  for 
neighbors  to  make  friendly  calls  and  young 
men  to  court  Puritan  maidens.  All  court- 
ing was  done  under  the  watchful  eyes  of  the 
stern  father  or  strict  mother,  however.  It 
was  the  custom  for  those  intending  to  mar- 
ry to  have  their  names  "  called  out  "  in  meet- 
ing beforehand.  Ministers  were  not  allowed 
to  marry  people  in  those  days;  only  magis- 
trates could  do  that. 

The  children  who  lived  in  New  Haven  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  must  have  found 
the  days  much  longer  than  they  would  now. 


MODE    OF    LIFE    IN    COLONIAL   DAYS.   193 

They  had  their  games  of  hopscotch  and  tag 
and  the  rest  but  no  toys  or  picture  books. 
They  were  not  allowed  to  celebrate  Christ- 
mas and  never  had  visits  from  Santa  Claus. 
The  boys  never  played  baseball  or  football 
as  they  do  to-day ;  and  they  never  "  went  in 
swimming."  The  girls  had  no  dolls  except 
those  they  made  for  themselves  out  of  wool- 
en rags,  and  they  were  not  allowed  to  become 
very  fond  of  these,  for  their  mothers  did  not 
think  it  right.  They  never  enjoyed  the 
pleasures  and  excitements  of  birthday  par- 
ties or  children's  entertainments;  they  were 
taught  to  think  of  more  serious  matters. 

Puritan  children  did  have  their  times  of 
enjoyment,  nevertheless.  The  early  settlers 
of  New  Haven  did  not  forget  that  "  All  work 
and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy,"  and 
they  did  provide  some  holidays.  There  was 
no  noisy  Fourth  of  July,  of  course,  but  chil- 
dren did  have  a  good  time  and  nice  things 
to  eat  on  Thanksgiving  Day.  Another  en- 
joyable day  was  "  Training-day,"  which  came 
six  times  a  year  and  furnished  much  excite- 


194         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

ment.  It  was  fun  for  the  children,  (and  the 
older  folks  as  well),  to  watch  the  train-band 
drill  and  see  the  soldiers  run  races,  engage  in 
jumping  contests  and  take  part  in  other  ath- 
letic games.  After  all,  when  compared  with 
the  pleasures  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  the 
twentieth  century,  these  children  of  the  Puri- 
tan founders  of  New  Haven  must  have  had  a 
very  stupid  time ;  but,  in  spite  of  their  hard- 
ships and  discomforts  they  grew  to  be 
strong,  brave  and  true-hearted  men  and 
women. 


APPENDIX. 


PAGE  32,  No.  i. — LANDING  PLACE. 

A  marble  tablet  commemorating  the  landing  of  the 
settlers  of  New  Haven  in  1638  has  been  placed  on 
the  brick  building  at  the  corner  of  College  and 
George  streets. 

PAGE    42,    No.    2. — HCME    LOTS    OF    THE    LEADING 
SETTLERS. 

(Map.) 

The  numbers  on  the  map  indicate  the  positions  of 
the  home  lots  of  the  leading  settlers  in  the  half-mile 
square. 

1.  Governor  Theophilus  Eaton. 

2.  Reverend  John  Davenport. 

3.  Stephen     Goodyear,     a    leading     merchant     and 

Deputy  Governor  of  the  colony.  He  died  in 
England. 

4.  Matthew  Gilbert,  a  prominent  officer  in  church 

and  state.  The  rough  gravestone  back  of  the 
Center  Church  marked  "  M.  G.  80  "  is  thought 
to  indicate  his  burial  place. 

5.  Nathanael  Turner,  captain  of  the  train  band. 

6.  Ezekiel  Cheever,  the  school  master. 

7.  Richard  Malbon,  a  prominent  merchant  and  cap- 

tain of  the  militia. 


196         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

8.  David  Yale,  the  father  of  Elihu  Yale. 

9.  Where  John   Dixwell,  the   Regicide,  lived. 

10.  George  Lamberton,  the  sea  captain. 

11.  Thomas  Gregson. 

12.  Isaac    Allerton,    who    came    over    in    the    May- 

flower to  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  later 
moved  to  New  Haven.  He  built  a  "  grand 
house  with  four  porches."  A  tablet  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Union  and  Fair  streets  marks  the  site 
of  his  house.  He  lies  buried  somewhere  on 
the  Green. 

13.  James  Hillhouse. 

14.  Roger  Sherman. 

15.  Noah  Webster. 

16.  Eli   Whitney. 

17.  The  oldest  house. 

PAGE  51,  No.  3. — PORRINGER. 

A  porringer  is  a  cup  or  bowl.  In  colonial  days  a 
silver  porringer  was  considered  a  very  valuable  pos- 
session. Those  given  the  Indians  were  probably 
wooden. 

PAGE  52,  No.  4. — THE  WORD  YE. 

"  Ye  "  is  an  old  way  of  printing  "  the  "  and  should 
be  pronounced  the.  The  Y  was  used  in  place  of  an 
o:  1  English  letter  called  thorn.  This  letter  was 
similar  in  shape  to  a  Y. 

PAGE  54,  No.  5. — KING  PHILIP'S  WAR. 

The  only  time  New  Haven  was  ever  seriously 
threatened  with  an  Indian  attack  was  in  the  war  with 


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APPENDIX.  IQ7 

King  Philip  and  the  Narragansetts  in  1775.  There 
was  great  alarm  among  the  inhabitants  and  prepara- 
tions were  made  to  fortify  the  town.  A  wooden 
palisade  was  built  around  the  original  square  and  the 
meeting  house  was  fortified.  Fortunately  there  was 
no  occasion  to  use  these  defences,  and  a  few  years 
later  the  wood  forming  the  palisade  was  sold. 

PAGE  65,  No.  6. — BANDOLEER. 

A  bandoleer  was  a  broad  leather  belt  worn  by  sol- 
diers over  the  shoulder  and  across  the  breast.  It 
usually  supported  the  musket. 

PAGE  95,  No.  7. — JUDGES'  CAVE. 

Whalley  avenue,  Dixwell  avenue  and  Goffe  street, 
all  leading  from  Broadway  toward  West  Rock  and  the 
Judges'  Cave,  are  named  after  the  three  Regicides. 
The  top  of  the  Rock  and  the  woods  surrounding  the 
old  cave  now  form  a  beautiful  park.  On  the  face 
of  one  of  the  great  boulders  forming  the  cave,  the 
Society  of  Colonial  Wars  has  had  placed  a  bronze 
tablet  bearing  the  inscription: 

JUDGES'  CAVE. 

"  Here  May  15,  1661  and  for  some  weeks  thereafter 
Edward  Whalley  and  his  son-in-law,  William  Goffe, 
members  of  Parliament,  General  officers  in  the  army 
of  the  Commonwealth  and  signers  of  the  death  war- 
rant of  King  Charles  I  found  shelter  and  conceal- 
ment from  the  officers  of  the  Crown  after  the  restora- 
tion." 

"  Opposition  to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God." 

The   most    direct    road   to   Judges'    Cave    lies    out 


198         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Whalley  avenue  to  Westville,  thence  by  Springside 
Home  to  the  park.  An  excellent  road  with  a  gentle 
slope  winds  through  the  park  to  the  cave  and  preci- 
pice. The  cave  may  also  be  reached  by  a  foot  path 
from  the  base  of  the  Rock  affording  a  fine  view  of 
the  city  and  surrounding  country. 

PAGE  125,  No.  8. — THE  LANCASTERIAN  SCHOOL. 

Another  famous  school  of  old  New  Haven  was  the 
Lancasterian  school  which  was  organized  by  Mr. 
John  E.  Lovell  in  1822.  It  was  conducted  under  the 
monitor  system,  the  older  scholars  teaching  the 
younger  ones.  For  several  years  the  school  was  held 
in  the  basement  of  the  Methodist  church  which  stood 
on  the  Green.  In  1827  this  school  was  moved  to  a 
large  new  building  erected  for  its  use  on  a  lot  given 
by  Mr.  Titus  Street.  This  was  in  time  removed  to 
make  room  for  the  Hillhouse  High  School.  The 
monitor  system,  has  long  since  given  way  to  the 
modern  graded  schools. 

PAGE  132,  No.  9. — YALE  UNIVERSITY. 

Guides  may  be  secured  free  of  charge  to  conduct 
visitors  about  the  college  campus  and  the  buildings  of 
the  University  every  hour  of  the  day  during  vacation. 

PAGE  141,  No.  10. — NAMES  OF  THE  STREETS. 

The  names  of  the  streets  of  a  city  are  often  an 
index  to  its  history.  This  is  true  of  New  Haven. 
State  street  was  called  Queen  street  before  the  Revo- 
lution. After  the  organization  of  the  State  govern- 
ment it  was  changed  to  State  street.  George  street 


APPENDIX. 


I99 


was  named  after  King  George  of  England  and  never 
changed.  Grove  street  received  its  name  from  the 
numerous  groves  near  the  Hillhouse  estate.  The 
first  elms  were  set  out  on  Elm  street,  hence  its  name. 
Several  churches  stood  on  the  street  named  Church 
street.  Davenport  avenue,  Whitney  avenue,  Hill- 
house  avenue,  Wooster  street,  and  others,  remind  us 
of  the  prominent  men  of  earlier  days. 

PAGE  141,  No.  n. — HILLHOUSE  AVENUE. 

The  debt  which  New  Haven  and  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut owes  to  James  Hillhouse  can  never  be  for- 
gotten. In  1792  as  a  part  of  his  work  of  beautifying 
the  city,  Mr.  Hillhouse  laid  out  the  avenue  which 
bears  his  name.  It  is  one-quarter  of  a  mile  long  and 
over  a  hundred  feet  wide.  It  was  at  first  called  Tem- 
ple avenue  and  was  a  private  street  until  1862.  For 
fourteen  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, Mr.  Hillhouse  was  Senator  of  the  United 
States.  In  1809  he  gave  up  his  senatorship  and  spent 
fifteen  years  in  placing  on  a  firm  foundation  the  school 
fund  of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  In  accomplishing 
this  object  he  was  untiring,  brave  and  upright.  In 
his  complexion  and  features  Mr.  Hillhouse  resem- 
bled an  Indian  and  people  used  to  call  him  the 
"  Sachem."  Hence  the  name  Sachem  street  at  the 
head  of  Hillhouse  avenue.  It  was  jokingly  said  that 
•he  kept  a  hatchet  under  the  papers  on  his  desk.  He 
acted  as  treasurer  of  Yale  College  from  1782  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1832.  Sachem's  Woods 
at  the  head  of  Hillhouse  avenue,  although  private 
grounds,  have  always  been  free  to  any  who  use  them 
properly  and  are  a  favorite  resort  of  children. 


2OO         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEX. 

PAGE  141,  No.  12. — ELM  CITY. 

The  first  person  to  give  the  name  "  Elm  City  "  to 
New  Haven  is  said  to  have  been  a  woman,  Louise 
Caroline  Huggins,  who  was  a  writer  of  the  i8th  cen- 
tury. 

PAGE  143,  No.  13. — THE  NATHAN  BEERS  ELM. 

This  old  elm  stands  at  the  foot  of  Hillhouse  ave- 
nue and  is  at  present  the  largest  and  tallest  old  elm 
in  the  city.  It  is  gradually  dying  and  will  need  to  be 
removed  before  very  long.  It  is  named  after  Na- 
than Beers,  a  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  because  his 
home  was  near  it.  Mr.  Beers  became  quite  deaf  in 
his  old  age.  The  soldiers  of  the  city  often  went  to 
his  house  to  salute  him.  On  one  occasion  he  ad- 
dressed them  as  follows:  "  Boys,  I  can't  hear  your 
guns,  but  your  powder  smells  good." 

PAGE   145,   No.    14. — THE   GROVE   STREET   CEMETERY. 

The  Grove  Street  Cemetery  is  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  the  older  burial  grounds  in  New  England, 
not  only  because  of  the  noted  persons  buried  there, 
but  because  it  was  the  first  one  in  the  world  to  be 
divided  into  "  family  lots."  It  contains  seventeen 
acres.  Cedar  avenue  is  known  as  the  "  famous  row." 
There  are  the  graves  of  Jedidiah  Morse,  the  father 
of  American  Geography;  Eli  Whitney,  the  inventor 
of  the  cotton  gin;  Noah  Webster,  the  author  of  Web- 
ster's Dictionary;  Charles  Goodyear,  the  inventor  of 
a  process  which  made  rubber  useful  to  mankind; 
Roger  Sherman,  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence; Admiral  Foote,  a  hero  of  the  Civil  War; 


APPENDIX.  2OI 

Benjamin  Silliman  and  James  Dana,  famous  scien- 
tists; Theodore  Winthrop,  New  Haven's  first  martyr 
in  the  Civil  War;  Nathan  Beers,  a  patriot  of  the 
Revolution;  Woolsey,  Twining,  Dwight,  Hadley,  Por- 
ter, Gibbs  and  Loomis,  famous  scholars;  Lyman 
Beecher  and  Leonard  Bacon,  noted  preachers;  and 
many  others  whose  labors  and  sacrifices  for  God  and 
their  country  have  won  them  lasting  fame  and  grati- 
tude. 

PAGE  145,  No.  15.— THE  CENTER  CHURCH  CRYPT. 

There  are  one  hundred  and  forty  tombstones  in  the 
crypt  of  this  church,  all  dated  before  1797.  The  crypt 
is  open  to  the  public  on  Saturdays  in  the  afternoon 
but  may  be  visited  at  other  times  by  applying  to  the 
Sexton  of  the  church. 

PAGE  149,  No.  16. — DAVID  WOOSTER. 

David  Wooster  was  another  New  Haven  patriot 
of  the  Revolution.  He  commanded  a  regiment  which 
left  New  Haven  in  June,  1775.  Before  the  soldiers 
marched  away  Colonel  Wooster  led  them  into  the 
meeting  house  on  the  Green  and  sent  for  the  minister, 
Reverend  Jonathan  Edwards,  to  pray  with  them.  Mr. 
Edwards  was  not  at  home.  So  Wooster  himself  step- 
ped to  the  front  of  the  pulpit  and  prayed  for  his 
country,  his  men  and  himself. 

PAGE  149,   No.   17. — BENEDICT  ARNOLD'S  SIGN. 

The  sign  which  hung  over  Benedict  Arnold's  store 
in  New  Haven  may  be  seen  in  the  rooms  of  the  New 


2O2         STORIES    OF    OLD    NEW    HAVEN. 

Haven    Colony   Historical    Society   on    Grove    street. 
It  reads: 

B.  Arnold  Druggist 

Book-Seller  &c 

From  London 

Sibi  Totique. 

PAGE  156,  No.  18.  —  WILLIAM  CAMPBELL. 

A  monument  on  the  top  of  Milford  Hill  marks  the 
grave  of  this  gallant  young  officer.  It  bears  the  fol- 
lowing appropriate  inscription: 

Adjutant  William  Campbell 
Fell  during  the  British  invasion  of  New  Haven, 

July  5,  1779. 
Blessed  are  the  merciful. 

The  site  of  the  monument  can  easily  be  reached  by 
the  Allingtown  trolley  to  the  foot  of  Milford  Hill. 
In  an  open  lot  at  the  top  of  the  hill  is  a  signboard 
directing  to  the  monument.  From  this  hill  one  may 
obtain  a  view  of  the  West  Bridge  and  the  causeway 
across  the  meadows. 

A  dressing  case  used  by  Adjutant  Campbell  may  be 
seen  at  the  rooms  of  the  Historical  Society  on  Grove 
street. 


^   160,   No.   19.  —  FORT   HALE  AND  BEACON  HILL. 

Fort  Hale  was  at  first  known  as  Black  Rock  Fort. 
It  lies  on  the  Morris  Cove  road  and  is  now  in  ruins. 
The  name  of  Beacon  Hill  was  changed  to  Fort 
Wooster  and  is  in  Fort  Wooster  Park.  Although  at 
one  time  well  provided  with  cannon,  neither  fort  was 


APPENDIX.  203 

ever  used  against  an  enemy.  Fort  Hale  and  Beacon 
Hill  may  be  reached  by  the  trolley  to  Lighthouse 
Point. 


PAGE  173,  No.  20. — THE  FARMINGTON  CANAL. 

This  canal  was  dug  from  New  Haven  to  Farming- 
ton  and  was  opened  in  1825.  Great  things  were  ex- 
pected of  it  at  the  beginning.  New  Haven  people 
spent  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  on  it,  and  Mr. 
James  Hillhouse  dug  the  first  spade  full  of  earth. 
The  water  was  let  in  from  the  Farmington  river. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  it  reached  New  Haven, 
for,  there  were  many  leaks  in  the  banks  of  the  canal. 
It  was  a  favorite  route  of  travel  to  Hartford.  The 
building  of  the  railroads  soon  after  this  canal  was 
completed,  destroyed  its  usefulness.  It  has  long  pro- 
vided a  bed  for  the  North  Hampton  railroad  and 
saved  New  Haven  the  expense  of  abolishing  grade 
crossings.  Above  Mt.  Carmel  the  railroad  still  fol- 
lows the  tow  path  of  the  old  canal. 

No.  21. — ELI  WHITNEY. 

Eli  Whitney 'was  graduated  from  Yale  College  in 
1792  and  went  to  Georgia  to  teach.  While  there  he 
invented  a  machine  for  separating  cotton  from  the 
seed  which  is  known  as  the  cotton  gin  (or  engine). 
The  machine  was  stolen  from  Whitney  and  he  was 
unable  to  secure  any  benefits  from  his  patents  on  it, 
because  of  frauds  by  the  cotton  planters.  In  1798 
he  came  to  New  Haven  and  built  a  factory  for  the 
manufacture  of  fire-arms  for  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment. The  plant  was  situated  at  what  is  now 


2O4         STORIES   OF   OLD   NEW  HAVEN. 

Whitneyville.  The  method  used  by  Mr.  Whitney  in 
the  manufacture  of  guns  was  entirely  new  at  that  time 
and  thought  to  be  impracticable.  No  workman  in 
the  shop  made  a  whole  gun  but  each  one  made  some 
particular  part  and  then  the  parts  were  put  together. 
This  method  of  manufacture  revolutionized  industry 
and  was  a  more  important  contribution  to  civiliza- 
tion than  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin. 

No.  22. — OLD  HOUSES. 

The  oldest  building  in  New  Haven  is  the  Ruther- 
ford warehouse  on  the  east  side  of  lower  State  street. 
It  was  built  in  1665.  The  oldest  dwelling  house  is  on 
Meadow  street  and  was  built  in  1684.  The  Benedict 
Arnold  house  is  on  Water  street  near  Fair  street, 
and  is  now  used  as  a  shed.  Noah  Webster  lived  in  it 
at  one  time,  and  began  his  dictionary  there.  Web- 
ster later  moved  to  the  Trowbridge  house  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Grove  and  Temple  streets.  Number  261 
George  street  is  the  old  Lyman  Beecher  house  and 
was  built  in  1764.  The  house  numbered  247  Church 
street  was  built  before  1760  and  was  known  as  the 
old  Coffee  House.  The  home  of  Roger  Sherman  is 
on  Chapel  street  next  to  Warner  Hall,  and  is  now 
used  for  stores.  The  oldest  brick  house  is  known  as 
the  "  Pinto  House,"  535  State  street  and  was  built  in 
1745- 


"'  I  II  II   III  I  Illl  IN,    „ 


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